Foresight
by InferNafee
Summary: What would happen if certain characters from different parts of time were taken out and put into a room to view what their future holds for them.
1. 1-0

It was an average day in the hale house. Talia Hale, the current alpha of the pack sat at the dinner table with her family. On her right was her eldest daughter Laura. Sat beside Laura were her other two children, Derek and Cora. On her other side was her brother Peter and right opposite of her was her husband. They were all about to begin eating, when there was a bright flash of light.

In another time and place, a woman dying on her hospital bed suddenly felt a calmness spread throughout her body before there was a bright flash of light in her room.

A few years down the line, in a small town of Beacon Hills multiple flashes of light had gone up at the same time. One was inside a classroom of a high school known as Beacon Hills High. One was at the hospital. One was at the Sherif's station. One was at a very big house, the Argent house. One was at the veterinarian clinic. And the last one came from the forest.

At the same time, there were two more flashes of light. One in another part of the country and one outside it.

There was a loud crash as people crashed into what looked like a giant movie theater. The way they fell, was what looked to be in groups. The hale family fell in a heap at one side while the others were in a heap in another side. The first to recover themselves were the Hales, closely followed by a sour faced wolf and then the Argent couple. "Where are we?" Stiles groaned out. "From the looks of things, a movie theater. And we are not alone" Deaton said looking straight at the Hale pack with a neutral look. Bu if one were to look closely, they could see surprise in his eyes. Derek looked at the pack with a mix of shock, want and sadness while the rest looked at them with confusion and wondered who they were. Stiles turned around to tell something to Scott when he goes quiet and turns pale. " _Looks like everyone is here_ " a voice spoke up as everyone looked at the front of the room. There was a huge screen up there and in front of it stood a very tall man. He looked to be about six feet eleven or seven feet in height. He had a mix of blonde and black in his hair which was tied into a low hanging pony tail. His skin pale with scruffy beard on his face and a scar going down his right eye. He had tattoos running down his arms and some around the side of his neck which looked more like writing than a design. But what was most striking and a bit intimidating about him were his eyes. In place of the white eye balls were pitch black eye balls and the pupils were the deepest crimson anyone had ever seen. Those eyes seemed to stare right into their souls. " _Alright people now to tell you why you lot are here. I have summoned you all here to take a look into your future"_ he said. "The future? You must be joking" Jackson spoke from beside Lydia. " _Does it look like I'm joking Mr. Wittemore?_ _" the man said looking at Jackson who shrunk a little. "_ So our future huh? Is it gonna be so bad that you brought us here to change it?" Erica suddenly spoke up then blushed as everyone looked at her, "I read a lot of time traveling fictions" she mumbled. The man just laughed _"_ _Kind of like that Ms. Reyes"_ he smiled at the blushing girl. " _While you all are here, the hunters will not have their weapons and the wolves will not be able to go wolf. So you all behave okay?_ " he looked at them all. They were all silent so the man spoke again " _OKAY!?_ " he said a bit louder and the room shook. The occupants all nodded in fear and the man smiled. "What do we call you?" Scott spoke up. " _Call me Sky. Now then you guys better introduce yourselves. Why not you start Mrs Hale_ " he looked at Talia. Talia stood a bit straighter, "Right" she mumbled. "My name is Talia Hale. And these are my children Laura and Cora. And this is my brother Peter" she said gesturing to the mentioned people. Sky then turned to Scott who sighed, "I'm Scott McCall. This is my mom Melissa Delgado. My dad Raf…DAD!?" he looked at his father in surprise. Sky coughed and Scott let out a breath, "My dad Rafael McCall. Beside me is my best friend Stiles Stilinski and his father Noah" a woman in the back of the room looked up with wide eyes. "And then my girlfriend Allison Argent. Beside her are" he was interrupted by the man beside Allison. "Chris Argent and my wife Victoria Argent" the man, Chris said. "Right" Scott nodded, "And over there is Lydia Martin and her boyfriend Jackson" he gestured to the two on the other side. "And over here is Dr. Alan Deaton. He is a vet" he pointed at Deaton who waved. Scott was going to say something more when Sky put his hand up making him stop. He then looked to the glasses wearing girl. "Erica Reyes" she mumbled. His eyes then went to the tallest of the kids, "Isaac Lahey" he said weakly. He then looked at the dark skinned boy, "Vernon Boyde". He then looked at the sour faced guy, "Derek. Derek Hale" he said emotionlessly. The Hale pack looked at Derek with shock while wondering how big Derek had gotten. But only Talia noticed the tone he spoke in. She had never heard him speak in a tone like that before. She decided to ask him about it later. Sky then looked to an Asian girl who was clutching a katana, "Kira Yukimura" she mumbled. He then looked at the woman who was wearing a hospital gown. He snapped his fingers and her hospital gown was replaced with a sundress. "Claudia Stilinski" she said as she admired her dress as both Noah and Stiles looked at her wide eyed. Then the last person Sky looked at was a young girl about Scott's age and was wearing nothing. " _Shit I forgot_ " Sky mumbled and snapped his fingers as a T-shirt and shorts appeared on her. " _Introduce yourself now please_ " he said with a smile. "Malia Tate" the girl said.

 _"_ _Right that's everyone. Now go and take a seat you all_ _"_ Sky said pointing at the sofas behind them. The hale pack pulled a non-struggling Derek with them and sat down at one corner, putting him in the middle. The Stilinskis all sat down together, with Stiles sitting in the middle. Scott and Allison sat together, with Scott's mom sitting on his other side and Allison's dad on her other side with his wife. Rafael sat with Deaton, Isaac and Boyde. Lydia sat with Jackson while Kira and Erica sat beside the group and Malia at the other corner, far from the rest.

 _"_ _Right let us start_ _" Sky said and snapped his fingers as the light died down and screen buzzed to life. The words HBO came on and then it showed a model of a map and music was playing on the background. "_ _Shit wrong video!_ _" Sky swore and stopped it. "_ _Sorry about that. This one was supposed to go on the other room. This is yours_ _" The screen buzzed to life and the show began._


	2. 1-1

**_The scene starts at a house with rock music playing in the background._** "That's my house!" Scott exclaimed. "Keep it down will you. We are watching" Laura scolded him and Scott shrunk into himself with a blush while Allison glared at the woman. ** _A lacrosse stick is thrown on the bed and Scott begins with pull ups while still in a towel._** "Damn" Allison muttered to herself quietly. But those with wolf hearing had heard her clearly and were all now smirking at a blushing Scott, except Derek. He still had a sour expression on his face but one could see the hints of a smile at the corner of his lips. **_Scott then went on to brush his teeth and wash up when he heard creaking from outside. He put on a hoodie and some pants before grabbing a bat and going out. He peeked out to see if anyone was there. He then slowly walked out, bat raised high when suddenly another boy dropped in upside down hanging by the roof and the both of them screamed._** "Do you ever make a normal entrance?" Lydia asked looking straight at Stiles. Stiles who was a little surprised by Lydia actually talking to him replied with replied with "Normal is overrated" to which she rolled her eyes. **_"Stiles! What the hell are you doing!?" Scott asked. "You weren't answering your phone. And why do you have a bat?" Stiles replied and asked. "I thought you were a predator" Scott mumbled. "A pre" he coughs 'Alright I know it's late but you have to hear this. I saw my dad leave 20 minutes ago. Dispatch called. They're bringing in every officer from the Beacon Department, and even state police" Stiles said. "For what?" Scott asked. "Two joggers found a body in the woods" Stiles started, "A dead body?" Scott interrupted. "No a body of water. Yes dumbass a dead body" Stiles rolled his eyes. "You mean like murdered?" Scott asked and the conversation went on till the two of them were in the woods. The two of them keep walking talking about their first day of high school._** **_Scott says he plans to play this year as part of the team's "first line." Stiles mocks this as "pathetically unrealistic." The two climb a hill where Scott falls behind and takes a hit of his inhaler._** "I didn't know you had asthma" Allison said looking at him. "You know what, she is right. I haven't seen you take a hit of it at all these days Scott. Are we out?" Melissa asked. Scott just shook his head, "I'm okay now mom. I don't have it anymore" he looked at his mom and then at Allison. **_Stiles tops the ridge and spots the line of officers and dogs searching. Excited, he runs forward toward the search area leaving Scott, who must take another hit from his inhaler, far behind. While he's trying to stay out of the searchers line of sight, Stiles instead runs right into one of the officers and his K-9 companion. The deputy shouts at him but is called up short by Sheriff Stilinski. The Sheriff questions him about listening in on his phone calls and asks the whereabouts of Stiles' "usual partner in crime". Stiles says that Scott is at home resting up for the first day back at school. The Sheriff not believing it for a minute, shines his flashlight into the woods and calls out for Scott who is hiding behind a nearby tree. Seeing nothing, the Sheriff grabs Stiles by the neck and walks him back to his car._** "Are always this troublesome to your father young man?" Claudia looked at Stiles sternly. Stiles said nothing and just stared at his mother with wide eyes. He was still shocked at seeing her here, sitting healthy and right beside him. " _She is real Stiles and she is right beside you_ " Sky spoke up suddenly as Stiles blinked. The rest looked at them with confusion while the McCall family looked at Stiles with a sad smile on their faces. His father put a hand on his shoulder and gave him a reassuring squeeze. Stiles looked back at his father then to his mother who did not look stern at all but had a look of confusion. Stiles without wasting another moment hugged her with everything he had. Claudia was surprised by the sudden hug and the intensity. She looked up at her husband who looked at them with tears in his eyes and then realization dawned on her. She hugged Stiles back. The others looked at the scene in front of them with a smile and some confusion till Sky's words actually registered in their heads and they all understood. It took them a while but Stiles and Claudia broke apart from the hug and the show resumed, Stiles resting his head on her shoulder. **_Scott pulls up his hoodie_** **_and begins making his way through the woods alone. Something on the path ahead catches his attention and he stops and takes out his inhaler to take a puff. As he is about to take a puff, a herd of panicked deer rush through the woods at him. His inhaler goes flying put of his grip and he drops to the ground. Once the herd has passed, he regains his feet and uses the flashlight app on his smartphone to search for his missing inhaler. The light from the phone passes over pale, almost white, flesh. Scott sweeps it back and sees the upper portion of a girls' body, cut in half at the waist with entrails spread out on the fallen leaves. He panics, loses his footing and tumbles down into a ravine._** Derek makes a little noise at back of his throat almost unnoticed by the rest and closes his eyes tightly. Talia, Laura, Cora and Peter look at him with worry in their eyes. They had not been able to tell who the girl was as the light wasn't on it for long enough. **_Standing up, he hears a low growl and turns to see a beast with glowing white eyes standing several feet away. The thing pounces, knocking Scott to the ground. He scrambles to get away but the beast pulls him back and bites down hard. Scott screams and rolls away. He gets to his feet and runs blindly through the woods then out onto a road where a speeding SUV skids and swerves and barely misses him._** Melissa and Rafael watched in horror as their son got attacked and almost hit by the car. Melissa lifted his shirt to see if he was still hurt, her eyes building up tears. Scott took her hand in his and looked her in the eyes, "I'm okay mom" he said to her calmly and then looked at his father and nodded. The two of them relaxed slightly in their seats while Allison sat pale in her seat. "That was our car" she whispered and looked at her father who realized what had made her daughter go pale like that and rubbed her shoulder. He looked back at his wife who was looking back at him. They both had realized what had just happened in the woods and decided to see what would happen next. This was after all an opportunity to change the future. **_Scott, breathing hard from fear and exertion, lifts his hoodie and t-shirt to reveal a large bloody bite. Deep puncture wounds create a rough circle on the right side of his abdomen from just below the ribs to just above his waistline. It begins to rain as Scott stands panting in the road. A wolf howls._** And with the howl, the hale pack from the past had also realized what had happened and looked at Scott with some understanding. Talia though was confused as to who was it that had bitten him. **_The following morning Scott arrives to Beacon Hills High School on his bike just as Jackson is parking his Porsche. Jackson bumps Scott with his car door then warns him in a menacing tone._** Lydia looked at her boyfriend with an annoyed look. She had always found this side of Jackson to be a bit rude and she disliked it, but never said anything against it. Stiles threw a dirty look at Jackson which was followed by dirty looks for Allison, Cora and Laura. **_Later, Scott shows Stiles his wound. It is covered with a white gauze and tape and a small amount of blood has seeped through. Scott says he thinks he was attacked by a wolf because he heard a wolf howling. Stiles says that would be impossible pointing out a lack of wolves in California for almost sixty years._** "You sure know a lot about these wolves Stiles" Peter spoke up. Stiles looked at him with a proud smirk, "I like to keep myself in the know of things". "Also he is a big nerd" Scott added as Stiles gave him a sour look. The rest chuckled at this before looking back at the screen. **_Scott then reveals that he found the body in the woods. Stiles is excited about the discovery but becomes distracted when he sees Lydia approach. He greets her but she ignores him. He blames Scott for Lydia's diss claiming Scott is dragging me down to his nerd depths. And added that he was I've been "scarlet nerded" by him._** Lydia looks at Stiles while the others laughed. "He isn't a bad guy" she thought to herself. She had seen him since middle school and could remember him being a weirdo. She would have been friends with him but then the popular kids wouldn't have liked her. She looked back at the screen as these thoughts went through her head. **_Scott and Stiles sit in English Class. As the teacher writes "Kafka's Metamorphosis" on the chalkboard, he explains that the police have a suspect in the death of the girl in the woods. A loud cell phone ring startles Scott. He looks around the room for the source but can't find it. Then he notices Allison sitting on a bench outside the school. She answers the phone and Scott can hear her conversation perfectly as though she was sitting right next to him instead of beyond the wall and several dozen feet away._** The occupants in the room except the Hales, the older Argents, Malia, Kira, Stiles and Deaton looked at Scott weirdly. "How did you hear that!?" Boyde asked from his place beside Rafael. Scott just shrugged, "I think it will be explained now" was all he said as everyone looked back at the screen. **_Allison was talking to her mother and realised that she left home without a pen. A teacher joins her and walks her into the building. Allison introduces herself to the teacher and says that she and her family moved from San Francisco where they lived for more than a year. She says this was the longest they'd stayed in one place in recent memory. A few seconds later she enters the English class and is introduced and is told to take a seat directly behind Scott. He doesn't say anything but hands her a pen. Their eyes meet briefly as she thanks him._** "I thought it was weird that you offered me a pen. I thought you could read minds" Allison grumbles good naturedly to Scott who smiles at her. **_They meet again at the end of the school day in the hallway when Scott stops at his locker. She catches him staring at her and smiles broadly before being approached by Lydia who compliments her jacket. Despite her locker being several feet away from his, Scott can hear the girls' conversation perfectly._** "Stalker much?" Lydia said with a raised eyebrow and Scott blushed, much to the amusement of Allison. **_Lydia wants to know where she got her jacket and Allison explains that her mother was a buyer for a boutique back in San Francisco. Lydia declares that Allison is her new best friend just as Jackson walks up to them. Lydia and Jackson embrace and then kiss._** "Get a room!" Cora shouts and makes gagging noises as the others excluding Derek who just smiled slightly laugh. Lydia blushes brightly and glares at the girl when she notices something. Stiles had not joined in on the laughter nor was he looking at her. Rather he looked a bit uncomfortable. She shrugged and returned to the show. **_The two of them invite Allison to a party on Friday night but she begs off claiming Friday is family night. Jackson says everyone is going to the party after the scrimmage. Allison thinks he was talking about football and asks. Jackson smirks and says football is a joke around here and explains that the game of choice was lacrosse. He brags that they've won the state championship three years in a row. And Lydia adds that it's due to Jackson being the team captain. The couple then proceeds to drag Allison to lacrosse practice as Scott watches._** Peter turns to Derek, "So it isn't basketball anymore huh?" but Derek says nothing, he not even looks at him. **_Scott and Stiles run onto the practice field, Stiles complaining that if Scott plays he'll have no one to talk to on the bench. Scott says he can't sit out again because his whole life is sitting on the sidelines and again vows to make first line. Allison and Lydia arrive in the stands and Scott again makes eye contact with Allison. She smiles and then Coach Bobby calls to him. The coach throws a goalie's stick and helmet at him and says he wants Scott to play goal because he'll be easy to score on and help build the other players' confidence._** "That's some shit coach there" Rafael says stone faced while the lacrosse players laugh a bit nervously. **_Allison asks Lydia about Scott but she says she doesn't know him. Scott's super hearing lets him hear their conversation from his place in front of the goal. He hears as Lydia asks Allison why she cares who he might be and Allison says that he's in her English class. Someone blows a whistle and with his ears turned up in super hearing, Scott is hurt and disoriented by the noise. While he is covering his ears in pain, one of the other players launches the ball toward the goal striking Scott squarely in his helmet. He is knocked onto his back and lays there stunned._** The druid, wolves and kitsune in the room winces having known exactly how bad it was with sensitive hearing while the humans looked at Scott weirdly. **_Scott gets up on his feet, tightens the grip on his stick and prepares for the next ball just as it flies toward him. He catches it and seems surprised as does Stiles and each of the other players on the field. He stops three more attempted goals in quick succession impressing both Allison and Lydia._** "You show them Scott!" Isaac suddenly screamed out but then shrank back as the others looked at him. **_Jackson wasn't impressed, he seemed rather angry as he forces his way to the front of the line, takes a running start and hurls the ball toward the goal. Scott swoops it up as easily as the others causing Stiles to leap to his feet. He and the rest of crowd, including Lydia, cheer loudly. Jackson catches Lydia's eye and seems put out and a little confused by her enthusiasm for Scott._** Jackson looked down at Lydia who was staring straight at the screen. He shrugged mentally and resumed watching. **_Later when they were walking through the preserve, Scott explains to Stiles what had happened tp him on the field. He goes on to explain about his enhanced hearing and sense of smell. He points out that he can smell a stick of Mint Mojito gum in Stiles' pocket. When the gum turns out to be there, Stiles seems at first confused but brushes it off and regains his jovial attitude. Scott worries that it might be an infection which is flooding his body with adrenaline before he goes into shock. Stiles takes on a knowing and serious tone and explains that he has heard of just such an infection. He says it's called Lycanthropy._** The supernatural creatures and hunters all blinked and looked at Stiles with surprise and confusion as to how he had figured it out this fast ** _. Unfamiliar with the word, Scott panics a little. Stiles plays out the joke saying the disease is bad but only once a month on the night of the full moon. He then howls like a wolf and Scott realizes that his friend is joking. He doesn't think it's funny and chides Stiles that there could be something seriously wrong. Stiles is still joking when he says he was now a werewolf and growls. He then jokes about melting silver in preparation for the full moon on Friday._** Everyone in the room seemed to laugh at this, the supernatural creatures and hunters not joining in. "And how did you come to that conclusion, Stiles is it?" Talia asked. Stiles shrugged, "I did some reading and cross referenced the symptoms" he simply said. Deaton from his place looked at Stiles, quite impressed. **_Scott stops and says that they've returned to the spot where he saw the body and lost his inhaler but there is nothing but dead leaves on the ground. Stiles suggests the killer moved the body and as Scott begins looking for his inhaler, Derek seemed to appear out of nowhere._** "Aye little brother makes an entrance" Laura cheered and clapped him on the back. ** _He strides purposefully toward them demanding to know what they are doing on private property. They say that they did not know that it was private property and was just looking for an inhaler. Derek then tosses the inhaler to Scott and strides away without another word. Stiles points out that it was Derek, a guy a few years older than they were and adds that Scott should remember him because his entire family died in a fire like 10 years ago._** The Hales blinked and then look at Derek who was staring intently at the screen. "Derek" Laura called out a little shakily. He does not respond. "Derek!" Cora and Peter joins in as well. Derek closed his eyes and did not respond to this. Talia looked at the closed eyed Derek as she finally realized all the odd looks he had given them, all the while not talking to them. The play of emotions in his eyes when they had made him sit with them and the tone in his voice. She put a hand on his shoulder and felt him stiffen, "Derek" she called out softly. Derek this time slowly turned around and looked at her. His blue eyes playing various emotions as he looked at her. Talia got up from her spot and pulled her son into a tight hug. Derek froze in the embrace but slowly returned the hug, years of pent up emotions now coming out of him in the form of tears. Laura and Cora joined into the embrace while Peter watched for his spot, a sad look in his eyes. "I am so sorry for leaving you like that" Talia whispered. Derek said nothing but clung to all three of them like his life depended on it. It was while later after the Hales had calmed down that they resumed the show. **_Thunder rolls across the night sky as Scott is locking the door at the Beacon Hills Animal Clinic._**

 ** _He walks into the restroom with a bottle of medicine, lifts his shirt and removes the bandage from his side. The bite from the night before is gone. He was completely healed in just a day. Scott drags a large bag of cat food down the hall of the clinic toward the back room with all the cats. Once inside the cats begin to cry and hiss and claw at their cages. Scott looks alarmed and backs out of the room closing the door._** "What is up with all those cats?" Erica asks but no one could answer her. ** _Allison is standing in the rain outside the clinic and hard on the glass door. When Scott unlocks and opens the door, she is crying and babbling about taking her eyes off the road for to change the song and running over a dog that was in the road. Allison says the dog is in her car and leads Scott outside. When she pops the hatchback of her car, the dog begins to growl and bark at her. Scott says the animal is just frightened and gets down to its eye level in an attempt to calm it. Scott's eyes take on a slight yellow glow for just a couple of seconds. The dog immediately calms and takes on a subservient posture, lowering its head and whining._** The human's all looked surprised at this but stays quiet hoping that it would be explained. ** _After examining the dog, Scott says he believes her leg is broken. He says he's seen the doctor do plenty of splints and can do one himself. He realized that Allison was standing there wet, cold and shivering, Scott offers to give her a shirt from his bag. Allison steps into the next room to change. Scott tries not to look but can help himself and watches through the glassed door as the girl peels off her wet top and stands with her back to him._** Chris growled at Scott almost like a wolf and Scott shrunk a bit to avoid his look to him. "Perv!" Lydia shouted from the back and he shrunk in further while Allison giggled ** _. Scott is just finishing the bandaging of the dog's leg when Allison returns. Scott notices a stray eyelash on her cheek and tells her about it. She tries and fails to remove it so he does it for her. Walking her to her car, Scott gets up the courage to ask her out to Lydia's party. Allison explains that she lied when she told Lydia and Jackson about family night and agrees to the date._** "Rude!" Lydia shouted with a smirk while Allison shrunk this time. **_Once home, Scott lies down on his bed. The moon visible from the window above his head. Scott smiles contentedly and drifts off to sleep. He rolls over in bed and suddenly finds himself on a blanket of wet leaves._** "Dude you're one hell of a ninja sleep walker to be able to sneak out of the house without your mom even noticing" Isaac said and that produced a bit of a chuckle from the rest, even Derek cracked a smile at this. ** _He awakes with a start and realizes he is inside a cave in the woods. It is early morning. A thick fog hangs over the forest as he begins walking. He hears twigs snapping and looks around for the source of the noise. He notices a shadowy form at the base of a nearby tree. It is hard to make out through the fog at first but then resolves into the creature that bit him two nights prior._** The cheerful mood now fully evaporates from the room as the creature comes back again. Talia realized what this was and what was happening. Melissa and Rafael where very scared while Allison gripped Scott's hand tightly. ** _Scott runs. The creature pursues. Coming over the top of a rise, Scott sees a wooden fence and jumps over. He is suddenly in deep water. He surfaces in a backyard swimming pool. The homeowner is watering his plants and stares open mouthed as Scott says good morning._** The tension evaporates again and they all laugh at the awkward greeting from Scott. **_Later that day, after school, Jackson confronts Scott at his locker. They are both wearing their lacrosse gear. Jackson demands to know where Scott is getting his 'juice'. Not understanding what he means, Scott says his mom does all their shopping._** More laughter from the occupants is heard while Scott looked embarrassed. ** _Jackson explains that the recent improvements in Scott's on-field performance suggest some chemical enhancement. Scott realizes he means steroids and turns the question back on Jackson who becomes angry and throws Scott up against the lockers. Scott confesses that he is confused by his new abilities and says he thinks he's losing his mind. Jackson thinks Scott is joking and vows to find out what he's hiding._** Talia looked at Scott sympathetically. She could understand what he was going through as she had seen omega's going crazy with fear before. **_An excited Stiles runs up to Scott at lacrosse practice. He says forensic evidence from the body in the woods suggests a wolf was involved but Scott is too preoccupied with practice to stop and listen. Allison arrives and waves to Scott who waves back. Coach Finstock explains that this practice will determine who makes first line. Scott catches the ball and is immediately knocked down by Jackson. Scott is obviously angry as the pair stands for a classic face off. Scott moves almost as the whistle is blown, taking possession and heading off down the field. He bobs and weaves around all the defenders eventually executing a forward flip over top of three players and scoring between the legs of the goalie. Coach Finstock announces that Scott is going to play on the team's first line. Stiles is sitting on the bench and seems worried. Later we see Stiles at home in front of his computer. Images of people with wolf heads, details about wolfsbane and other arcane knowledge about werewolves scrolls across the screen._** "That is a lot of reading there son. You sure you were alright afterwards?" Claudia asks looking at his son with worry. Stiles just waved his hand, "I do that when the topic excites me". **_Scott arrives and, noting his agitation, asks how much Adderall Stiles has consumed. Stiles says a lot and then launches into details of his research. He explains that Scott is a werewolf and shows him a book that explains how the full moon and strong emotions or anything that raises his heart rate could trigger blood lust and violence. He says Scott has to cancel his date with Allison because it's the night of the full moon and she gets him excited. Scott refuses to cancel so Stiles grabs his phone and says he'll do it. Scott becomes irate, grabs Stiles and thrusts him up against the wall. He draws back a fist to punch him but stops. He flips a chair instead. He releases Stiles, apologizes and leaves. Once he is gone, Stiles notices that the chair Scott hit now has three distinct claw marks along the back._** The room goes silent and looks at Scott. Allison looked at Scott a bit afraid, "Are you?" she asked. Scott looked at her and nodded a little. The room erupted into shouts and chaos as they all finally have a confirmation. " _SILENCE!_ " a sudden shout and the shaking of the room quiets them all. They all look at Sky who had appeared there and what he had with them scarred them. Behind him were six big black feathered wings. " _Calm down before I make you!"_ seeing them all quiet down he continued, " _Scott might be a werewolf but he is no different from humans. Except for the clams, fangs and physical abilities. He is still the boy you all knew from before and got to know. He just had a furry little problem"_ he finished. They all calmed down and thought about it. Stiles who had already known, looked at Sky, "Dude what are you? You had enough power to take us and put us in this room or something and you seem like a good guy. Are you some kind of an angel or something?" he asked. Sky gave him a sour look " _Do not compare me to those asses. They all have this huge stick up their ass. Except for one, he is actually cool and threw a Molotov at his older brother and called him an assbutt_ " Sky chuckled as the others looked at him weirdly. He shook his head and pointed at the screen for them to keep watching as he disappeared. They all blinked and shrugged before resuming the episode. **_At home, Scott exits the bathroom to find his mother, waiting for him in the hallway. She asks him about the date and then gives him the car keys. Scott arrives at the Argent House to pick up Allison. She is dressed in a blue blazer and white shirt. At the party, Scott spots Derek Hale standing off to one side of the yard. A dog behind Derek begins to bark and growl. He looks back at it and it quiets. Allison distracts Scott for a moment and when he looks back Derek is gone. Scott watches a dark wolf-like figure leap to the roof and scurry away._** "Not creepy at all little brother. Not creepy at all" Laura muttered and Cora laughed. Derek shook his head with a snort. **_Scott and Allison begin to dance. Scott catches Lydia's eye. She is making out with a very amorous Jackson but stares unblinkingly at Scott. Scott gets sick. He is sweating and seems a little delirious. He makes his way out of the party and back to his car. Allison chases him out of the party just in time to see him speed off down the street. Derek comes out of the shadows and introduces himself, claiming to be a friend of Scott's._** "Dude you don't just leave a girl like that in the middle of a party!" Peter exclaimed looking very offended. He then turned to Derek, "And you boy need to learn how to not be a creep to other people. You will never get a girl like that!" he scolded as the room erupted with laughter. ** _Scott makes it home sweating and panting. The full moon can be seen out his bedroom window. As he sits in the shower in his blue jeans, his fingernails begin to grow into claws. When he looks in the mirror we see his canine teeth have grown into fangs and his eyes glow yellow. Stiles knocks on the door. Scott won't let him in but says he needs to find Allison. Stiles explains that he saw her get a ride from the party. Scott says he has figured out that Derek Hale is the werewolf that bit him and killed the girl in the woods._** "I call bullshit!" Laura shouted suddenly then resumed watching. ** _Stiles then reveals that Derek was the person with whom Allison left the party. Scott, now fully in his werewolf form, leaps from his window and takes off running. He finds a car parked at the entrance to the Preserve, sniffs the air and continues into the woods._** "Not gonna lie he looks hot" Allison said under his breath not meant for others to hear it. But they all did hear it and erupted into laughter while her parents gave her horrified looks. Allison blushed deeply and hid her face in Scott's arm. Scott looked at her with wide eyes, "You're not afraid?" he asked. Allison peeked up at him, "Why would I be? It's still you" she mumbled and that made Scott smile wider. **_Stiles drives to Allison's house. Victoria answers the door and calls to Allison who is standing on the upstairs landing. Scott follows the scent and finds Allison's blue blazer hanging from a tree branch in the woods. He hears someone walking and calls out "Where is she?" he asks in a whisper "She's safe from you." Using his enhanced werewolf vision, Scott sees Derek Hale in the darkness. Derek grabs him and wrestles him up against a tree. Then, hearing something only he can hear, shushes Scott. He looks worried and says "They're already here. Run!" and takes off running. Scott is left behind. He begins to run but an arrow-borne flare strikes a nearby tree blinding him. A second arrow pierces his right forearm pinning him to a tree. With his enhanced vision returning, he sees three figures several feet away aiming crossbows at him. One of the figures steps from the shadows and we see it is Chris_** "DAD!" Allison shouts and looks at her dad a bit horrified while Scott's parents glare at him. Chris put up both his hands up, "I'm a hunter. It's what we do" he said simply. They all argue but Talia stops them all this time. "It is true. They hunt down wolves that go rogue and protect the people. It seems they thought Scott was like that" she said and they all calmed down. Allison still looked very angry when she shifted her glare at Derek, "And you! Next time warn him better!" she hissed as Derek blinked at her. **_Derek attacks, throwing two of the hunters through the air and breaking the arrow pinning Scott's arm. They run from the hunter._** Scott's parents sigh in relief as they finally saw their out of danger ** _.Once they reach a safe distance they stop. Scott collapses against a tree and resumes his fully human form. Derek explains that the men were hunters "the kind that have been hunting us for centuries." Scott then accuses Derek of turning him into a werewolf. Rather than deny it, Derek says he should be happy with his new abilities. He says the bite is a gift and that Scott will need him if he wants to learn how to control his new powers. Derek leaves him with the line "You and me Scott, we're brothers now"._** Those words play in all their heads as they understand what Derek meant. Scott gave him an understanding look, finally understanding how lonely Derek was and how he just wanted a family. Derek's sisters hugged into their brother's sides while his mother looked at her son with sadness. **_Scott is walking home when Stiles arrives and picks him up. Scott says he's worried Allison hates him now Stiles say he'll need an awesome excuse and then promises to help him get through his new situation. At School the next day Scott apologizes without offering an explanation and Allison says she'll give him a second chance. A horn honks, it is Allison's father come to pick her up in the family's burgundy Chevy Tahoe. Scott turns to go, but catches scent of something and turns back. He sees that Allison's dad is the lead hunter from the woods from the night before._** "That must have been quite a shock huh?" Isaac asks as Scott looks at him rubbing the back of his head, "Tell me about it" he mutters. The episodes ends there and they all talked to each other about what they had just learned. "So get it simply said, The Hale family and Scott here are were wolves" Talia said pointing at the mentioned people. "I'm a fox" Kira suddenly said then squeaked when they all looked at her. "A Kitsune?" Deaton asked as she nods. Derek sniffed the air and turned to Malia, "What are you?" he asked. Malia met his gaze with a glare, "Why should I tell you?" she growled. "Oh come on now Malia. Let's get it out" Stiles spoke up and jumped a little when she looked at him. She looked at Stiles for a while before she muttered, "WereCoyote". "That is rare" Deaton mumbled while Talia looked at her as something clicked in her head. She chose to think about it later as they sat back down when the second episode came on.


	3. 1-2

**_The scene opens with Scott worrying a lot about Allison's father being a hunter and is distracted during practice with the lacrosse team. Coach asks Jackson to take the long stick during practice and Scott gets knocked around by Jackson. He gets angry and senses the wolf inside him, so when Coach gives him a second chance he ends up dislocating Jackson's shoulder with a rough tackle. Stiles gets him off the field before anything worse happened. Derek is seen watching from the sidelines._**

"A bit too much there?" Allison says looking at Scott with a small smile. "I think he deserved that" Stiles spoke up. "I'm right here!" Jackson shouted from his place. "I know!" Stiles shouted back. Cora looked at her older brother who had a normal look on his face, "Why do you keep stalking Scott?" she said as her older sister laughed while Derek's face went back to his usual sour expression.

 ** _Stiles takes him to the locker room where Scott shifts into the wolf and tries to kill Stiles. Stiles grabs onto the fire extinguisher and after a bit of fiddling sprays it on Scott and runs out the room._**

Everyone in the room looked at the screen in shock. Claudia clutched onto her son as if he would disappear in any moment while Scott shrank into himself after seeing what he had almost done. "Alright guys" Stiles spoke up, "That has already happened and I'm happy to announce that I survived" he waved his hands around and the room relaxed a little.

 ** _When he calms down Stiles tells Scott that he can't play this Saturday, even if he is first line. Back at his house, Melissa informs him that she is taking off work to watch him play on Saturday. She then asks if he is okay because he has been acting strange, jokingly asking him if he is doing drugs. When he comes back asking her if she's ever done drugs, she leaves the room, telling him to sleep if he's tired. He is on a Skype call with Stiles when Derek confronts him about shifting on the field during practice. He tells him that if he shifts everyone will find out about their kind and if he tries to play, Derek will kill him._**

Peter groaned out loud and everyone's looked at him. "Why do you have to be such a big creep man! You're dragging the Hale name through the dirt" he grumbled as everyone laughed. "You and I really need to have a man to man talk".

 ** _Scott tells Coach that he can't play the game the next night and Coach doesn't understand. Scott tells him that he's having personal issues, to which Coach asks if it's a girl or if it's a guy. Scott tells him that it's neither of those, he's having problems with aggression. Coach tells him that you play lacrosse to deal with aggression and that if Scott doesn't play, he won't be first line_**.

"I know that the coach doesn't know about all but he is seriously being an ass right now" Laura growled. "The coach is very passionate about the game" Stiles said with a chuckle. "Guess from this point on it's the future" Scott muttered as he watched.

 ** _Scott and Allison talk in the hallway about her coming to see the game. She tells him that Lydia, Jackson, and them are going out after the game and that he should invite Stiles, too. Allison goes to her locker and finds her jacket from the party. Lydia and Scott are solving math problems on the board. Lydia asks Scott why he isn't playing in the game the next day and tells him that he is playing because he injured Jackson. When he says that it'll save people if he doesn't play, she says that if he doesn't play they'll probably win and Lydia will introduce Allison to all of the hot guys on the team._**

"Was that really necessary?" Stiles looked to Lydia who shrugged. "Boys need motivation" she said. Allison turned to Scott who was shifting in his seat. She took his hand in hers, "You know I'll never leave you for some jock" she smiled at him. Scott looked at her and returned her smile.

 ** _In the hallway, Scott hears the Sheriff telling the principal there is now a curfew because of the body. Stiles suggests that they try to find the other half of the body so that they can help catch Derek, who they believed killed the girl. Scott then sees Allison being introduced to one of the lacrosse players by Lydia. Scott gets annoyed by that and asks her where she got her jacket. When she says she thinks it was Lydia, he asks if it might have been someone else and gets annoyed further at the mention of Derek, causing Allison to walk away._**

"Someone is jealous" Stiles says in a sing song voice. Scott glared at Stiles with a faint blush across his cheeks. Allison watched quietly with a smile that lit up her face.

 ** _Scott goes over to Derek's house to confront him and sees that something was recently buried on the property. Scott tells him to leave her alone because she doesn't know anything. Derek tells Scott that maybe she does, and he is just trying to look out for Scott. Stiles goes to Scott's house and asks what he found. Scott tells him he smelled something buried on Derek's property and he thinks it was blood. Scott tells Stiles that when they find out whose blood it was, Stiles dad arrests Derek and Scott learns how to control the shift because he needs to play the lacrosse game._**

"You are so not getting my brother arrested!" Laura shouted pointing at the two who just shrugged back. "Guess we won't when we get back" Stiles said as he shrugged again causing Laura to growl.

 ** _Stiles and Scott go to the hospital to see if the blood Scott smelled at Derek's is the same as the body. While Scott is in the morgue, Stiles sees Lydia who is waiting for Jackson. He admits he has a crush on her, but she is on her Bluetooth and didn't hear anything he said._**

"I'm pretty sure this was supposed to be personal damnit" Stiles grumbled blushing crimson as all the others laughed. Scott patted his back sympathetically, letting lose a few chuckles himself. Lydia looked at Stiles, she knew he had a crush on her but to think it was for this long. She did feel about ignoring him like that. Guess she wouldn't when they get back.

 ** _She asks if it was worth repeating to which he says no. Meanwhile, Scott is looking in the morgue for the body. He is very upset when he pulls the tray out and sees the body again. When he confirms it's the same body he very quickly pushes the tray back in._**

All the people in the room pulled a face. "Dude di you really need to do that?" Malia suddenly asked. They had all forgotten she was there as she hadn't spoken once. Scott just shrugged.

 ** _Back in the lobby, Jackson comes out and tells Lydia that the doctor gave him a cortisone shot but told him not to make a habit of it. Lydia tells him to get another one just before the game. When he begins to argue she tells him that all the pros do it, so he should if he wants to go pro. They kiss as Stiles looks on disgusted. Scott comes out of the morgue and tells Stiles that the smell is the same and Stiles says they use the fact that they have proof it was Derek. Stiles asks Scott if he's doing this because he wants to play the game or if he wants to stop Derek. Scott tells Stiles there were bite marks on the legs and Stiles tells Scott that they're going to need shovels._**

"Pros that do that go to jail. You really shouldn't encourage him Miss Martin" Rafael spoke up and Lydia shifted guiltily.

 ** _In the night, Stiles and Scott go back to Derek's property. Scott tells Stiles that something is different but he doesn't know how. They dig until they hit the body but then they find the head of a wolf, not a person. Stiles sees wolfsbane and pulls it up to find a rope surrounding the grave in a spiral. When it's all pulled out they see that the wolf's head is now the other half of the girl._**

"And you guys dug up a grave. Great, just great" Noah groaned. Stiles looked at him sheepishly while Scott looked to Derek. He had his eyes shut close. Beside him he saw Laura, the girl who is supposed to be his older sister. She looked pale, paler than anyone he has ever seen. "T that's me isn't it?" he heard her mutter and the room got silent. Derek nodded. "I thought I died in the fire" she whispered looking at Derek with wide fearful eyes. Derek shook his head, "You, me, Cora and Peter survived" he said in a hoarse voice. "Peter…is in the hospital. Paralyzed from the trauma. Cora I don't know. She ran that night" He whispered out. The mentioned people looked at him in shock. "H How did I die?" Laura asked with a tremble in her voice. "The beast that bit Scott. He killed you, ripped you in half and took your powers. You were the Hale family Alpha after mom" he said as he stared at her. Laura said nothing but just hug her brother. Cora joined into it and Derek held them both close to him. Talia watched this with sadness. Her children all had to get through so much and she was not there for any of them.

 ** _The next morning, Derek is arrested by the Sheriff for murder. Stiles confronts Derek to ask him about why the girl was different, could turn into a real wolf. Derek tells Stiles that maybe he should be more concerned with Scott shifting during the lacrosse game. The Sheriff pulls Stiles out of the car and asks why they were in the woods the night before. He tells his dad that they were looking for Scott's inhaler from the night he lied about Scott being in the woods. When Stiles is driving them away from Derek's house, Scott gets very agitated when Stiles is talking about Scott being a werewolf so much. He is having trouble breathing because Stiles still has the wolfsbane in his bag. Scott begins to shift and runs away. Stiles calls the Sheriff's station to ask if anyone has reported seeing Scott before they hang up on him._**

"You two had to!" Laura shouted from her place beside Derek breaking the hug temporarily. "Also maybe keep the wolfsbane away from him. The mere presence is a danger for freshly turned wolves" Talia said from her spot with a smile that looked more menacing than comforting. "Also, not the best way to explain to someone what a guy looks like" Peter added and he too had a glint in his eyes.

 ** _He runs to Allison's house and almost goes into her room before he sees in his reflection that he has shifted. He runs into her driveway in front of her father's car, which hits him, making him shift back to human. Allison runs out to make sure he was okay and Scott tells them both that he was and that he was just there to make sure she was going to the game. She confirms that she was and her father says he would be there as well._**

"Should have run him over" Victoria muttered under her breath. Chris gave his wife a side look then he looked at Scott. The kid might be a wolf but he seemed nice. "Nice but dangerous" the hunter in him screamed at himself. Chris pushed the voice down, he wouldn't judge till he saw whether Scott was a threat or not.

 ** _Stiles tries to convince Scott not to play because he might lose control which could have many consequences. Lydia tells Scott that nobody likes a loser as he's walking to the bench. Coach asks Jackson how his shoulder is and tells him to play through any pain._**

"Okay that guy seriously needs to get his priorities straight here!" Melissa shouted and many of the parents agreed to it.

 ** _Nobody passes to Scott per Jackson's instructions. Scott's frustration makees him to shift, which he uses to win the game. He almost attacks another player until he hears Allison in the stands which brings him back._**

"Great moves there Scott! And that last shot man!" Isaac whooped while the rest smiled. "And that was a stupid plan of yours Jackson. You really need to get over this jealousy" Boyde said as Jackson glared at him.

 ** _Once the game was over, he ran off the field so nobody saw him shift. Allison goes to the locker room to look for him and finally finds him after he's controlled the shift. He apologizes for being so weird, telling her that she makes him nervous and he's worried about not getting his second chance. She accepts his apology and they kiss before she left._**

"Nicely done man!" Stiles laughed and slapped him on the back. Scott looked at Allison and she looked at him. Both of them had a blush and a smile on their faces.

 ** _Stiles tells Scott that his dad got a call saying that Derek had to be released from police custody because they have evidence that the girl was killed by an animal, not a person. They also discover that the body was Derek's sister, Laura Hale. Back on the field, Jackson picks up Scott's glove - which has claw marks in it. He turns to see Derek standing behind him, before he walks away and the screen fades to black._**

"Hah! He got out!" Cora whooped and laughed pointing at Stiles who scowled. "Well guess detective Jackson will cause lots of problems for Scott in the future" Erica said with an eye roll. "And Derek will just be creeping in the back and threatening Scott from time to time as this happens" Peter rolled his eyes as the next episode starts.


	4. 1-3

**_The episode begins within Scott's dream in which he is on a date with Allison but ends with him murdering her on a bus._**

"I'm going to kill you with my bare hands!" Victoria screamed and lunged for a terrified Scott who was too busy staring at the screen in horror. It was Allison who had held back her mother, "Mom this is just a dream!" she screamed trying to catch her mother's attention. Victoria glared at her daughter, "Unhand me young lady!" she screeched, "I am going to slay this filth like I would any other" she snarled which scared Allison who had never heard her mother talk so acidly. "Victoria" Chris said putting a hand on her shoulder, "This was just a dream and you need to calm down" he said as Victoria turned her glare to him. "Calm down" he said again and discretely tilted his head. Victoria understood what he meant and nodded. The couple sat down again and Chris looked at Scott, "That better only be a dream McCall" he said as Scott who finally pulled his eyes away from the screen nodded.

 ** _The next day Scott is telling Stiles about the dream and how oddly clear it was. Stiles is about to convince Scott to let it go when they arrive at the ravaged bus. Scott becomes worried that the dream was real and that he hurt Allison and goes off to find her. When he cannot he becomes enraged and accidentally damages Jackson's locker, stunned that he lost control in such a manner he attempts to leave school but bumps into Allison relieved to see her alive he turns around to see Jackson dumbfounded over the state of his locker._**

Seeing the bus had put fear into the hearts of everyone present. Allison looked to Scott who was pale and shuffled away slightly. But when they saw that Allison was unhurt, they all relaxed. Allison looked to Scott who was still pale. She gently touched his arm, "Scott? I'm okay" she said gently. Scott nodded, "You are but there was blood on the bus. I k killed someone" he stuttered and the tension was back again.

 ** _Later in chemistry, Scott and Stiles are discussing the recent change of events. This is noted by Adrian Harris, and he separates them. Soon Harley alerts the class to activity at the crime scene and they see a clearly traumatized man being loaded into an ambulance. Scott believes that he is responsible for this. Later at lunch, Scott and Stiles are still trying to wrap their heads around things but are suddenly joined by Lydia, Allison, Danny, Jackson, and Brian who Jackson quickly dismisses._**

"Someone got popular" Melissa muttered with a smirk and elbowed Scott who looked uncomfortable, the traumatized man still on his mind.

 ** _The topic is soon on the incident and the man found and Jackson states was probably a drug addict who was going to kill himself any way. Then Stiles reveals the information he recently received on his phone, that the man had been identified as the bus driver, Garrison Myers, who Scott realizes he knew. At the request of Lydia the subject changes to what they are doing tonight. Allison and Scott are surprised that Lydia seems to have invited herself and Jackson on their date, therefore turning it into a group date._**

"You don't do that! That's so uncool" Stiles moaned rubbing his face while Lydia gave him a glare.

 ** _Realizing that they don't have anything planned, Lydia suggest bowling as Jackson loves it. When asked about his bowling skills, Scott is unsure about himself which causes Jackson to taunt him and for Scott to boast that he is a great bowler; a decision which he later regrets, but has no time to revel in it as he is late for work at the Animal_** **_Clinic_** ** _._**

"Dude you suck at bowling!"Stiles screamed as the rest laughed and Scott blushed.

 ** _When he arrives is unnerved by the arrival of the sheriff as he believes that they have found some connection to him and the attack. However he is only there to have his dog's stitches removed. While he is there he gives Dr. Deaton some case files so that he can help identify the animal. He identifies it as a wolf but notes some abnormalities. Later, Scott stops by the hospital to make a delivery to his mother and decides to see the bus driver who begins having a panic attack at the sight of Scott, worsening his fears._**

"Look it might look like you did it but we don't know that for sure. Innocent until proven guilty" Stiles said and Scott smiled a little.

 ** _The next day the sheriff's office has dispatched a car to check out Derek Hale's place however using his werewolf ability manages to scare off the deputy. As his car pulls off Scott appears behind it asking for Derek's help. Scott asks Derek if he will hurt or kill someone to which he replies, "Yes." He then offers to teach Scott how to recall his memories and control the shifts for a reason to be revealed later. Derek tells Scott to go to the bus and let his body remember for him._**

"That is not how to make friends Derek" Laura groaned rubbing her face. "At least he is helping Scott" Cora said from her spot. "Baby steps" Talia smiled.

 ** _Later that evening, Scott goes to the bus to recall his memories while Stiles keeps lookout much to his displeasure. After Scott recalls his memories, he and Stiles quickly speed off as someone is coming. Scott reveals that he was trying to help the man and another wolf who he believes to be Derek attacked him which Stiles finds curious._**

"Told you it wasn't you!" Stiles cheered as Scott let out a breath he was holding. Victoria and Chris looked at each other before looking at Scott and then back to the screen. "Why do you automatically think that my brother did it!?" Laura asked with a growl. Stiles shrugged, "He is the only other wolf we know". Laura was about to say something when she stopped, "That makes sense actually" she muttered to herself.

 ** _Meanwhile, Allison and Lydia are picking out outfits for their group date, and suddenly her dad walks in and forbids her to leave the house due to the recently enacted curfew. Allison however resolves to sneak out anyway much to Lydia's surprise._**

"You are so grounded young lady" Chris grinds out. "You can't ground me for something I haven't done yet!" she protested. "Watch me" was all Chris said while Allison pouted.

 ** _Derek decides to pay the bus driver a visit to interrogate him on what he saw. Much to Derek's surprise, the bus driver recognizes him. As Derek ask him what he remembers, the bus driver keeps on repeating, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. He lays his head down. Then Mrs. McCall, working as a nurse there, sees that his heart monitor has stopped and runs to the bus driver's room, only to find him dead, and Derek gone._**

"I knew he was the big bad wolf!" Stiles shouted. "What happened to your 'Innocent until proven guilty'?!" Laura shouted back. "We just saw what happened here!" was all Stiles said then shrugged.

 ** _Later at their date, Allison and Jackson show great skill at bowling whereas Scott and Lydia do not. After becoming annoyed at Lydia and Jackson's increased smugness, Allison decides to give Scott some pointers to keep his mind off the game and on her naked._**

"Oh my god" Chris said in horror while Victoria looked shocked. Allison blushed and hid her face into Scott's side who was blushing as well. "Get that thought out of your head if you know what's good for you boy!" Chris snapped and Scott nodded nervously.

 ** _This raises his blood pressure and allows him to use his werewolf abilities and greatly improves his game to the astonishment of everyone. Suddenly Lydia begins flirting with Scott who he quickly shoots her down. Clearly annoyed with this, she goes off to bowl with perfect form revealing that she was only pretending to be terrible for Jackson's sake._**

"Right in the pride" Boyde coughed while Jackson glared at a deflated Lydia. "How long have you been doing this for" Jackson asked through gritted teeth. Lydia did not answer nor did she look at him. "Lydia answer me!" he said more forcefully and grabbed her arm. "Hey!" Stiles shouted, "Leave her alone". Jackson turned his glare to Stiles, "Stay out of this. It is between me and my girlfriend!" he shouted. "She might be your girlfriend but she does not belong to you. Let her go now!" Stiles growled out. "I'd do what he said son" Noah spoke up looking at the boy with a hard look. Jackson got up and sat at the far end glaring at the father son duo. Stiles got up from his seat and went to Lydia, "You ok?" he asked kneeling in front of her. Lydia looked at him for a moment before nodding. Stiles nodded back with a smile before he got up to walk away. Lydia grabbed Stiles hand which made him snap his neck back at her, "Sit here? Please?" she asked. Stiles looked at Lydia, he had been 'observing' Lydia for quite some time now but never before had he seen her scared or this close to tears. He nodded "Of course" he sat down beside her and the episode resumed.

 ** _Meanwhile Mr. Argent and the other hunters corner Derek at a gas station to bait him hinting that they know he is a werewolf and his history._**

"My car" Derek grunted and glared at Chris. "Oh so now he talks" Laura muttered with a roll of her eyes.

 ** _As the group date ends, Scott attempts to bury the hatchet with Jackson, whom states that he knows that something strange is going on with Scott and that he knows that Scott doesn't want Allison to find out what it is. He also vows to find out just what it is. After driving Allison home she and Scott kiss goodnight._**

"You know" Isaac started, "When someone who is far superior to you in many ways holds out an olive branch, it is smart to accept it" he finished with a look at Derek who glared at him. "He is not my superior" he grounded out.

 ** _At home, Melissa stops in to say goodnight to Scott but sees that he isn't in his room. She leaves the room, then hears someone coming in through Scott's window and nearly attacks Stiles with a baseball bat._**

"What is it with you two and baseball bats!" Stiles groaned out.

 ** _Scott then comes in behind her much to her relief she then questions whether either of them care about the police instigated curfew to which they reply "No!" She then decides to go to bed, leaving Scott and Stiles to talk. Stiles then reveals that the bus driver is dead. Scott then goes to confront Derek and accuses him of murdering the bus driver and his sister and threatens to tell the sheriff everything. To which Derek attacks Scott, Scott then shifts and pushes Derek through a wall. Commenting that Scott's stunt was, "cute", Derek then shifts and dominates Scott in the ensuing fight._**

"Okay that was kinda cool" Stiles muttered to which Lydia nodded. Allison looked to Scott, "You know how to fight?" she asked to which Scott shook his head. "You really need to before you get killed" she muttered to which he nodded.

 ** _After they fight and shift back to their human state, Derek tells Scott that another werewolf, The Alpha, killed Laura and the bus driver. It was also this werewolf that bit Scott and now wants the boy to kill with him and join his pack. Derek explains that his sister was an Alpha type werewolf but that he and Scott are both Beta types._**

"So wait" Scott starts looking at the Hale family. "Only Alpha's can turn people by biting them?" the Hale's nod. "SO what happens when a beta bites someone?" he asks again. Everyone looked to Talia who shrugged, "Death" she said simply. Everyone nodded and looked back at the screen as the episode ends. "I don't know about you guys" Stiles says getting up, "But I'm tired and want to get some sleep". The others looked at him before nodding as they got up too. "Anyone know where the bedrooms are?" he asked and the rest shook their heads. Sky appeared in front of the screen and everyone looked at him, " _Good thing you said that Stiles. I forgot to tell you guys the way to the bedrooms. Take the door to your right and you'll see a series of doors. Left are for boys and right are for the girls"_ he said and vanished again. Everyone looked at the spot where he was standing before they went on to sleep.


	5. 1-4

It was the next day when the chosen ones were gathered back in the room, fully rested and full with breakfast. The screen buzzed and another episode began.

 ** _Kate Argent is driving down a dark road at night, listening to the radio, after a report of animal attacks in the region she contemptuously switched it off._**

"Aunt Kate!" Allison squealed happily. "She is coming to visit?" she turned to her father with a questioning look. Chris shrugged, "She hasn't told me anything about this" he said and looked at the screen. He knew exactly why Kate was coming over.

 ** _After breaking hard on a junction, she is then attacked by The Alpha, pulls out a shotgun and wounds the creature, revealing herself as a hunter._**

"Wait..she is a hunter too?" Allison looked to her parents who nodded. She slumped in her chair a little. She could see her parents lying to her about this as most parents would do but she never thought her aunt Kate would lie to her. She looked down and felt someone squeeze her hand. She looked up to see that it was Scott and he was smiling at her. She returned the smile halfheartedly. Shewrapped an arm around his and leaned against it.

 ** _Derek Hale is there tracking The Alpha when suddenly he is shot in the arm by Kate with a sniper rifle. Scott, hearing the call of The Alpha, goes out to meet him and finds Kate and Chris in a conversation, where Kate reveals that whoever she shot has 48 hours to live._**

"Why are you always getting caught in the crossfires!" Laura screamed at her brother. Talia gave her son a sharp look, "What did I tell you about going out on patrols?" she asked. "To be careful?" Derek asked looking a bit more nervous than usual. "And where you?" Talia asked again, "No" Derek replied looking down. Cora looked to her mom, "Is he going to be okay mom?" she asked, her voice shaking. Talia looked to her youngest daughter and smiled, "He will be" she turned back to the screen. "Oh God I hope will be" he thought to herself.

 ** _The next day Allison is ecstatic that her aunt has come to visit. Later Derek goes to Scott's school to find him and asks Jackson where he can be found. But Jackson assumes that Derek is Scott's drug dealer. Realizing this, Derek resolves to find Scott himself and begins_** **_to_** **_lose_** **_control of his abilities_** ** _accidentally sinking his claws into Jackson's neck._**

"You're losing control" Laura looked to her brother with a worried looked. Derek watched the screen impassively but on the inside he was feeling the nerves clawing at him. Jackson put a hand to the back of his neck as if he felt the pain himself.

 ** _He then listens to Allison and Lydia's conversation about Scott. He manages to find Stiles in his jeep, about to pull off. Derek gets him to stop, but collapses in the road. Scott, noticing that Derek is weak, helps him into the car. Derek instructs Scott to go to Allison's house and find the special bullet that he was shot with._**

"You're losing strength faster. This must be a more potent wolfsbane than normal" Talia mutters to herself as she watched her son growing weaker by the minute. She feel her heart race in worry of the fate of her son. "Another thing I couldn't protect him from" she thought to herself, her hands clenching into fists.

 ** _Scott arrives at Allison's house to study. Allison begins to kiss Scott, triggering minor sexual arousal, and causes Scott to begin shifting._**

"I'm supervising your study sessions at my place from this moment on" Chris glared at Scott who seemed to by shrinking into himself, with a huge blush. Allison shifted uncomfortably, her cheeks glowing red.

 ** _A call from Stiles interrupts, and Scott notices all of Allison's past hobbies. When Scott asks what she is good at, she takes him into the garage to show him her archery bow. Scott notices all of the guns her father keeps and she reveals that her father is an arms dealer to the police. They begin kissing again when Allison's father walks in and catches them. He is about to send Scott home, but Kate invites him to stay for dinner._**

"How friendly of her. Why can't you be like that dad?" Allison said looking at her father. Chris said nothing but his eyes narrowed a fraction as he watched.

 ** _Mr. Argent offers him alcohol in an attempt to see whether or not he will drink it, but Scott manages to give parent-friendly answers. After an urgent call from Stiles, Scott continues his mission to find the bullet. He tries a locked door but is discovered by Kate. He claims he is looking for the bathroom and she points him to the guest bedroom where she is staying. In that room is Kate's bag, where he finds a box of bullets labeled "Aconit Napel Bleu Nordique" which translates to Nordic_** **_Blue_** **_Monkshood_** ** _._**

"Yay you found it!" Cora cheered while Laura smiled. Talia looked at the screen and then to Chris who was looking at her as well. They both look at each other for a second before nodding and looking back at the screen. "This was too easy" they thought.

 ** _Derek says Scott must bring him one of the bullets, in order to heal himself. Scott is ready to leave but Kate insists that he stays for dessert. After discussing the recent animal attacks, Chris and his_** **_wife_** ** _tell Scott a story about a rabid dog that had to be put down by Allison's grandfather._**

"Why must you tell him about that? On the dinner table?" Allison groaned. "It's a warning. Scott tried to hurt you and they kill him as well" Derek said from his spot. Everyone turned to look at him but he merely raises an eyebrow at them all.

 ** _After dinner Scott is accused of taking something from Kate's bag. After being asked to empty his pockets, Allison confesses to taking a condom, much to everyone's surprise._**

"Allison Argent!" Victoria screamed. Chris looked at his daughter in shock while the person in question blushed a deep shade of red. Lydia looked at her best friend with a smirk while Stiles was resisting the urge to laugh at his best friend who looked like he was about to burst in embarrassment.

 ** _Scott manages to get the bullet to Derek before Stiles has to amputate his arm. When Scott asks what Derek is going to do with the bullet, Derek faints, and the bullet slips out of his hands and into a hole in the ground._**

"NO!" the Hales except Derek screamed as they saw Derek faint on screen and see his last hope roll away into a hole.

 ** _Scott manages to retrieve the bullet while Stiles frantically tries to wake Derek up. After Derek is up off the ground and has the bullet, he burns the wolfsbane and rubs the ashes into the wound, allowing him to heal._**

"Oh thank god" Talia sighed, a hand over her heart. She looked at Derek who looked relaxed, much more than he was before. Cora poked Derek's side and he looked at her, "Were really going to cut your arm off?" she asked, her eyes a bit red which was from her almost breaking into tears. Derek looked at her and shifted uncomfortably, "I don't know Cora. Maybe" was all he said and then ruffled her hair. Cora growled before she nuzzled his hand.

 ** _Scott and Derek soon engage in an argument, in which Scott claims that the Argents are far kinder than Derek. Derek, in response, takes Scott to see his comatose uncle, Peter_** **_Hale_** ** _, in the hospital. He tells Scott that while he and his_** **_sister_** ** _were in school the Argents burned down his house and killed his entire family including the humans, which goes against the code they follow. Derek's uncle was the only one that survived though he is left badly burned._**

The Hales of the past looked at the screen in shock. And then suddenly Chris was held up by Peter who was holding him up by his shirt. "How dare you!?" he growled at the man who was struggling in his grip. Before it could go any further, the two of them were suddenly blasted apart from each other and back to their seats by some unknown force. " _Keep watching and everything will be explained_ " Sky's voice rang through the room. The Argents and the Hales glared at each other but then looked away. "D Did you guys really?" Allison asked horror struck from the words she had heard. Chris put a hand on her shoulder, "We did no such thing. Someone else has played this game so that the blame shifts to us" he finished as Peter growled again. "Bullshit!" he roared before Sky's voice rang out again, _"I SAID TO SHUT THE FUCK UP AND FUCKING WATCH. EVERYTHING WILL BE FUCKING EXPLAINED!"_. The room shook slightly and both parties calmed down.

 ** _Later Allison becomes more suspicious of her family. Meanwhile, Kate and Chris have a conversation revealing that they know Derek is not The Alpha and suspect that there may be another. Kate plans to kill them all but Chris says that they must do it by the code. Kate lights a fire insinuating that she is the one who burned down the Hale house against the code and without the others knowing._**

"Oh my god" Allison said in horror, covering her mouth with her hands. Chris clenched his fists, his eyes hard from anger. Victoria while was happy with the death of the wolves, she was very against the thought of killing the humans who were there as well. "I fucking knew it!" Peter said as he stood up again. Chris stood up as well with his hands raised up, "I had nothing to do with this and I knew nothing. Believe me" he said looking at Peter who looked ready to attack. Peter was about to say something when Talia and Derek spoke up, "He is right" mother and son looked at each other. Talia smiled at him while Derek nodded, "I can hear his heartbeat, he is telling the truth" Derek said. Peter looked at Derek for a moment before he sat down again, anger still in his eyes. Scott watched all of this, holding a crying Allison in her arms. "How could she…" she sobbed into his arms. Scott drew circles on her back with his fingers to help her calm down. She eventually calmed down and the next episode came on.


	6. 1-5

**_Jackson and Lydia arrive at the video rental store as Jackson tries to convince Lydia to watch something other than The Notebook._**

"What's wrong with the notebook? It's a brilliant movie!" Stiles exclaimed from his place beside Lydia. "Only girls and sissies like you would agree with that Stilinski" Jackson spat at him. Stiles glared at the boy while Lydia looked at Stiles with a curious look on her face.

 ** _Jackson goes inside to find The Notebook and finds the rental clerk dead with his throat ripped out. The Alpha is inside the store with Jackson and pins him to the ground with a shelf, but instead of killing him, he observes scratches left on the back of his neck by Derek and jumps out the window, terrifying Lydia. Soon, Stiles arrives with his father and is surprised to find Jackson and Lydia there protesting to be allowed to go home._**

"Saved by the scratch" Isaac mutters looking at a relieved Jackson. Talia looked at the screen with narrowed eyes. There was only one reason for the alpha to leave someone unturned and the reason was all too well known by her. Stiles looked at Lydia who had suddenly clung to his arm, "Hey Lydia its okay" he said. Lydia looked up at a smiling Stiles and nodded her head shakily. She took a few deep breaths and got settled back in. But she still held his arm, not that Stiles was complaining.

 ** _Scott and Derek are on the roof discussing the incident and Derek explains that The Alpha is acting unusually, claiming that werewolves are predators not killers. As they leave, The Spiral mark glows red on the roof._**

"Is that?" Deaton spoke up for the first time and everyone jumped a little. Talia looked back at her emissary and nodded gravely.

 ** _Back at his place, Derek explains that he needs Scott to find The Alpha and also that he will need his help killing The Alpha, but first, Scott must learn to endure pain and remain in his wolf form._**

"Guess you will finally have a friend huh Der?" Cora asked elbowing his side. Derek said nothing but his face grew sour.

 ** _The next day, Kate apologizes to Allison for giving Scott a difficult time, and gives Allison a family heirloom as a birthday gift. It's a silver medallion with a snarling, large wolf on the front. Kate then tells her to look up her family history._**

"That stupid woman!" Victoria said through gritted teeth. Allison looked at her mother, "What is wrong with knowing about the family history?" she asked. "You'll see son enough" Chris said calmly, but had an edge to his voice.

 ** _At school, Allison finds a birthday surprise from Lydia in her locker and Scott sees this, realizing that it is her birthday. When Scott asks why she is embarrassed about this, she explains that she is 17, a year older than others in her grade. Seeing how distressed she is about it, he asks her to skip the day with him, which she nervously agrees to._**

"Oho no, you young man are not bunking class and taking the young lady with you!" Melissa says fixing Scott with a glare. "It hasn't happened yet mom" Scott groaned. "It better not happen at all" Chris said from his place beside Allison fixing Scott with a glare of his own.

 ** _Later in Mr. Harris' chemistry class, Stiles asks Danny a series of questions regarding Jackson and the events of last night as Jackson and Danny are best friends. Danny admits that despite this, Jackson won't discuss the matter with him. Stiles then asks Danny, who is gay, if he finds him attractive and then falls off his chair._**

"That is not how to ask someone out Stiles" Lydia teased from beside him. Stiles was about to say something when he noticed her smile. She hadn't smiled since the whole bowling part. Stiles shook his head with a smile, "I guess not".

 ** _Later in the locker room, Jackson is interrogated by Derek on what he exactly saw last night. Satisfied with what Jackson has told him, he leaves and tells Jackson to have his scratches looked at, payback for a rude remark Jackson made at Derek previously._**

"You tell him" Cora whooped. Jackson glared at the young girl before looking away. The Hales were all looking at him, daring him to say something.

 ** _Stiles goes to see a prescription drugged Lydia to ask her about the attack but she is too inebriated to be of any use. When Stiles answers her phone, he sees a recording of The Alpha that she had captured by accident. Stiles attempts to call Scott repeatedly to help him figure out what to do with video evidence that werewolves are real. Since both Scott and Allison have turned off their phones, Stiles is left on his own and eventually decides to erase the evidence._**

"Good thinking" Chris muttered. He knew the kind of chaos it would cause if people saw that. Lydia hid her face behind her hands and sighed, "Of all people it had to be him" she thought to himself. She did not know why it was such a big deal. After all he did nothing to her, inappropriate that is. He was a gentleman all the way. She shook her head and looked back at the screen.

 ** _Out in the woods, Kate leads two hunters to confront Derek. Hearing them approach Hale House, Derek is able to take out the two hunters quickly, but he is trapped and tortured by Kate. She taunts him in a sexually suggestive way saying "This one grew up in all the right places" and "I don't know whether to kill it or lick it."_**

"That was so creepy" Laura muttered with a shudder. "Tell me about it" Allison said trying to hold back on the vomit that tried to come out.

 ** _Kate explains that they did not kill his sister. Derek seems unconvinced and is tested by Kate who asks, "You think I'm lying?", with a still skeptical Derek replying, "Wouldn't be the first time," hinting the two have a shared past. She then suggests that they work together to kill the Alpha if Derek discloses his true identity, but after she deduces that Derek does not know The Alpha's identity either, she attempts to kill him as she sees him as now useless to her._**

"Derek" Talia looked at her son. Derek did not look back and said nothing, staring intently at the screen. Talia sighed and looked back at the screen.

 ** _Scott's boss leaves a message on his phone looking for him when Sheriff Stilinski arrives and asks for his opinion on the video store attack. The vet then begins to act strangely and tells the sheriff to seek out a professional opinion. Later that night at the parent teacher conference, all the parents are in attendance. Coach Bobby Finstock is revealed to be an Economics teacher in addition to coaching the Lacrosse team. He is surprised to find out that Stiles' first name is not Stiles. It also turns out that Jackson is adopted, Lydia's parents believe there is something wrong with her, but do not realize how bright and successful she is, and Allison's mother does not appear to know that her husband is a hunter._**

"That is your first name?" Lydia asked with a raised eyebrow. Stiles shrugged, "You see now why I go by Stiles?" he said as Lydia smiled and then let out a little giggle. "But the name is such a nice one" Claudia mutters. "Of course it is honey" Noah says, rubbing her back. "You know that's bullshit" Allison says to Scott. "Mom knows perfectly well. She herself is one". Scott nods his head and looks back at the screen.

 ** _After the conference, Allison's and Scott's parents realize the pair is missing. Upon meeting, Melissa McCall and Chris take an instant disliking for each other with Chris blaming Scott for being a bad influence on Allison. Once the young couple arrives at the school, before their parents can begin to scold them for cutting class, there is a sudden disturbance in the crowd. An animal on the loose. Amidst the chaos, Scott saves Allison from being hit by a car, the Sheriff is hit by a car and before he can act, Chris shoots the animal, which is revealed to be a mountain lion._**

"He is a bad influence" Chris said looking at Scott who did not meet his eyes. "After what I saw? I can't blame you for saying that" Melissa says causing Scott to drop his head. "I fell like the mountain lion thing was a setup. To get our minds off the whole alpha thing" Lydia muttered to Stiles who nodded, "I feel the same thing" he said. "I hope you are alright" Claudia said worryingly. Noah put an arm around his wife, "I'm fine honey. It's going to take more than a car to take the Sheriff down" he boasts earning a light slap on the chest from his wife. Stiles smiled watching his parents interact with each other.


	7. 1-6

**_Scott is looking for his car after buying groceries when he suddenly notices that he is being stalked by a werewolf._**

"Okay how can you be sure that it's a werewolf and not some random thug?" Boyde asked. Scott shrugged, "The scent and heartbeat I guess" he replied. Boyde looked at him before looking back a t the screen muttering, "Right that was a thing" to himself.

 ** _Despite his best efforts to get away he is eventually caught by the werewolf who is revealed to be Derek. Derek explains that the exercise was part of his training and that if Scott wants to learn to control his animal side that he must do it through anger._**

"Okay first off you do not approach or train someone like that. And secondly, anger? Really?" Laura said looking at his brother who did not meet her eyes. "Derek look at me" She said but Derek did not budge. "I said look at me" she forced him to look at her and then as if she was shocked she pulled back. Derek looked at her with cold emotionless eyes before he looked away. Talia gently touched her daughters shoulder and whispered to her ears, "I guess after our death, his rage is what helped him gain control. That was probably his anchor" she said sadly. Laura looked at her brother with sadness before she nodded and looked back at the screen.

 ** _He also tells him to stay away from Allison, as she is a distraction and then he breaks Scott's phone. Scott tells Derek that he will easily be able to stay away from Allison but ends up at her house with his shirt off anyway._**

"Oh my god Scott!" Melissa shouted, "I will not be on tv as one of those teen pregnancy mums!". Scott shrunk down with Allsion as the others laughed, all except the Argents who were glaring at the pair.

 ** _Kate interrupts the pair. Allison puts Scott in the closet before letting her aunt into the room. Allison claims she is just working on homework; a history project she has to do on her family. Kate tells her to look up "La Bête du Gévaudan" as it is a part of their family history. As Scott is sneaking away from Allison's house he is confronted by The Alpha. Scott manages to get inside his car when the alpha draws a spiral on his window. He hurries home to find Derek waiting for him when Scott tells him about the spiral Derek realizes something and leaves._**

"That sneaky" Chriss said through gritted teeth. Talia looked at the symbol as her eyes fell on to her brother who was looking at the screen with clear anger.

 ** _The next day at school, Scott is having trouble avoiding people and finds Stiles still mad at him for allowing his father to be hurt and for not returning any of his phone calls during The Tell. Despite Stiles being mad at Scott his new information piques his curiosity and he decides to begin speaking to Scott again._**

"You two are so much like brothers" Noah mutters with a smile as Scott and Stiles looked at each other, smiles on their lips. Claudia looked at her boy. The smile on his face was enough to tell her that he was with the best people for him.

 ** _Believing that Derek is untrustworthy, Stiles resolves to teach Scott himself meanwhile Allison tells her family history to a bored and still traumatized Lydia. Stiles attaches a heart monitor to Scott to help him control his animal side by pelting him with lacrosse balls Scott almost loses control and Stiles stops the exercise._**

"That is both a stupid and a very clever idea in one. I'm not sure which of it is more of" Peter said with a slight growl at the back of his throat.

 ** _Unknown to them, Jackson is watching as Scott breaks the duct tape binding his hands. Later in the locker room Jackson is stalking Scott and Scott remarks that it smells like something is dying. After they leave Jackson begins having hallucinations and sets in action a plan to get closer to Scott through Allison. Meanwhile Derek pays a visit to his uncle Peter who shows signs of coming out of his coma._**

"Oh thank god" Laura sighed with relief. Derek still held his sour look, but his eyes told that he too was relieved.

 ** _Later in class, the constant badgering of Bobby Finstock causes Scott's heart rate to rise and he almost changes but Allison unknowingly stops him from doing so. Noticing this, Stiles tells Scott to simply think of Allison to stop himself from changing. Stiles decides to see if his conclusion is true by keying someones car and blaming Scott for it. Scott and Stiles both get in trouble and have to serve detention._**

"Was there really no other way to test this!?" Scott groaned. Stiles shrugged, "Hey it worked didn't it?".

 ** _Stiles admits that he's not angry with Scott anymore and that he has to do something since he wasn't bitten by choice. The chemistry teacher decides to let them out. Meanwhile Derek pays a visit to Dr. Deaton as he believes that he is The Alpha. Scott arrives at work to find Derek 'interrogating' his boss and lashes out at him._**

"I can assure you that it wasn't me" Deaton said calmly. "And next time don't interrogate anyone. Ever" Stiles said then squeeked when Derek glared at him.

 ** _Derek explains that the spiral is a sign "for a vendetta, for revenge," among werewolves. Scott and Stiles decide to show Derek that Scott's boss is not The Alpha by howling over the intercom to summon the real alpha. Suddenly Scott's boss is gone and the alpha appears and stabs Derek in the back with his claws. Blood pours from Derek's mouth and frightened, Scott and Stiles take refuge in the school._**

"NO!" Talia screamed when she saw the lifeless body of her son being thrown aside like that. "Are you two some special kind of idiot or something!?" Peter growled at them, "YOU DO NOT SUMMON YOUR ENEMIES TO YOU!" he shouted. "Okay geez no need to shout. It hasn't happened yet" Stiles said rubbing his ears as the next episode started rolling.


	8. 1-7

**_Scott and Stiles are inside the high school. Seeing that the Alpha may or may not have killed Derek, the boys now turn their attention to staying alive._**

"You better survive this" Allison muttered, "I hope we do" Scott muttered back.

 ** _Stiles tells Scott that he is now convinced that the veterinarian, Dr. Deaton, is The Alpha due to the fact that he disappeared from Derek's car moments before the werewolf showed up._**

"Now that I hear the logic from myself, it does point to that" Stiles said looking at Deaton who silently watched the episode. "I don't know" Lydia whispered, "There seems to be more to this than that". Stiles looked at the girl sitting right beside him, "Why are you whispering?" he asked to which Lydia shrugged with a frown on her face.

 ** _From one of the classrooms they see that Stiles' Jeep has been damaged. A battery is thrown through the window making it clear the vehicle is disabled._**

"Okay why must we damage the innocent here!?" Stiles groaned. Claudia looked at her son then at the screen, "Is that the same jeep you bought for me?" seeing her husband nod, she looked back at her son who was scowling and smiled to herself.

 ** _They hide in the locker room because it has fewest windows. Hearing footsteps they both hide in lockers but are found by a janitor who tries to throw them out. The janitor is instead killed by The Alpha._**

"That was….god I don't know what to say" Allison said as she looked at the screen. Scott looked at her before taking her in his and gave it a comforting squeeze, one which she returned.

 ** _Allison gets a message from Scott to meet him at the high school. Allison arrives with Jackson and Lydia in tow. Lydia watches as Jackson, who has been snappish with her throughout the night, shares a moment of care with Allison, urging her to be careful as she walks into the building by herself._**

"I did not send that to Allison. I'm not stupid" Scott says when someone coughs out the words 'debatable' in the background. Lydia looked from the screen to Jackson who was looking at her. He gave her a glare before looking away.

 ** _Stiles uses his key ring as a diversion to lure the werewolf into a room with a heavy metal door. He slams it shut and the boys shove a desk against it to keep it closed. They think the beast is trapped and Stiles can't help but taunt The Alpha. The werewolf then breaks through the flimsy suspended ceiling tiles and exits the room through the crawl space._**

"Taunting the beast? Really? I mean seriously!" Peter exclaimed, rubbing his face. "How would I have known that the thing would escape like!?" Stiles complained. "Regardless of that little fact, you do not taunt a wild beast!" it was Noah who had shouted this time. Stiles blinked before looking away with a scowl on his face.

 ** _Jackson notices the damage to Stiles' Jeep and decides to take a closer look. Lydia insists that she is not staying in the car by herself and follows. They decide to enter the school to find Allison but once inside Lydia decides she has to pee and heads off to the restroom. While Lydia is away, Jackson sees a shadowy figure at the end of the hall. He thinks its Scott but then sees The Alpha._**

"You know, now is not the time to pee" Stiles looked at Lydia who gave him a dirty look, "Well excuse me for having bladder functions" she scowled.

 ** _In another part of the school, Scott hears Allison's cell phone and uses Stiles' phone to call her. They find each other in the lobby, find out the text luring her there was not sent by Scott and are quickly joined by Jackson and Lydia. They begin to leave but hear something walking along the ceiling crawlspace and run. It's The Alpha but Allison, Jackson and Lydia don't know that. They regroup in another classroom. They press Scott for answers but he lies and blames all the recent killings and the night's violence on Derek._**

"Was lying really necessary here?" Allison asked. Scott rose an eyebrow, "would you have believed me if I told you the truth?" he asked. Allison thought for a moment before shrugging, "True". "Why must you keep blaming my brother for all this? Just because he looks like a murdering creep?" Laura shouted at Stiles. The person in question gave his sister a not amused look while the others laughed despite the atmosphere.

 ** _They argue about calling the sheriff. Lydia calls, but the operator who says the department received a tip that there would be prank calls about the school. They look for a way out and Stiles mentions a locked door leads to the fire escape. The key is on the dead janitor. Scott offers to go fetch it. Lydia uses her advanced science skills to make a "Self-igniting Molotov Cocktail" to use as a weapon. Jackson assists her but seems distracted while handing her a key ingredient._**

"You did not just give me the wrong ingredient" Lydia shrieked looking at her boyfriend. Jackson glared at her, "Well excuse me if I'm not as brilliant as you". "You don't need to be brilliant to read of a label you asshole" Lydia said glaring at him. Jackson stood up, "I have had enough of all of this. Dude with the wings do we retain our memories if we get sent back?" Jackson screamed. " _If you didn't then there would be no purpose for me doing all this now would there be?"_ Sky answered. "Good then send me the fuck back!" he looked back at Lydia as his body began to glow, "Oh and we are through" he disappeared in a flash of bright white light. "Wait we can just go back if we ask?" Isaac asked to which a huge yes appeared on the screen. The rest of them thought about this while Lydia looked at the spot Jackson stood with shock. It was after a few seconds, that they all looked back at the screen not noticing the close to breaking Lydia, all but Stiles that is.

 ** _Scott uses his heightened sense of smell to find the janitor under the bleachers in the gym. As he attempts to retrieve the keys, the bleachers begin to close in on him retracting toward the wall. He grabs the keys and avoids being squished but is confronted by The Alpha. Back in the science classroom, Lydia begins to question which chemicals Jackson handed her to add into the weapon she made. He continues to be snappish and claims he gave her just what she asked of him._**

Hearing Jackson's snappish voice made Lydia flinch as she got closer to break. She bit her lip trying not to cry out when she felt someone hold her hand. She looked to see that Stiles was looking at her, his hand holding hers. He looked at her and she looked at him, her eyes looking at his for a long moment before he nodded to her with a small smile as if they had some sort of a silent conversation. Lydia gave him a shaky nod, her grip on his hand very tight. While the two had their silent conversation, the rest talked about the scene. "You were this close" Melissa hissed, "This close to getting squished. I swear you are going to be giving me grey hair way before its time' she groaned the last section. "Asshole" Cora muttered as she watched the way Jackson was talking to the others.

 ** _In the gym, Scott throws the bottle of chemicals but it breaks without exploding and does no damage. The Alpha jumps on Scott. It issues a loud low growl which seems to spark a violent werewolf transformation in Scott and intense pain in the scratches on the back of Jackson's neck._**

"This is bad" Laura muttered while the two hunters looked at each other and then at the screen.

 ** _Now in werewolf form, Scott heads back to the classroom with a sinister look on his face. He puts the key in and is about to unlock the classroom door but hears Allison's voice and stops. In flashbacks, he is thinking about her, touching her face and kissing her. Scott breaks the key off in the lock. Allison hears it snap and tries to open the door but can't. Lydia is the first to hear the police sirens. She, Jackson, Allison and Stiles run to the window to see sheriff's vehicles pulling into the parking lot. Derek's car, which had been parked behind Stiles' Jeep, is now gone. In a dark hallway elsewhere in the school, Scott is down on all fours breathing heavily. He raises his head and we see that he is once again in his human form._**

"If I were to comment on this, I would say that you Scott have a good will power and that it is the strongest I have seen in a long time" Talia said looking at Scott with a smile. Scott nodded, a small smile on his own face. The hunter couple look at each other for a long while before nodding, coming to a mutual understanding. "I wonder if the alpha took Derek's car" Laura said to herself.

 ** _Stiles, Scott and Sheriff Stilinski exit the school. The sheriff asks Scott if he is sure Derek is responsible for the killings. He says yes and Stiles claims to have seen him too._**

"Oh my fucking God!" Laura screamed. "Just leave it sis. Those two won't keep him out of their radar until they finally have proof" Cora said patting her brother on the back who was scowling.

 ** _The sheriff says the body of the janitor was not in the gym and they are still looking for it. While Stiles says they outlasted The Alpha, Scott points out that the beast could have killed them at any time but wants him as part of his pack. Scott speculates that before he can become part of the pack he has to kill his old pack: Allison, Jackson, Lydia and Stiles. Scott admits that after The Alpha 'made' him shift he wanted to kill them._**

"Excellent observation there Scott. That is definitely something a blood thirsty alpha would do" Peter commented. Talia looked at her brother who looked at her, "What?" he asked. "Nothing" she said with a shake of her head. She had a few theories as to who the Alpha was but she decides to keep them to herself for now.

 ** _Scott then notices the Vet sitting in an ambulance. He says he escaped Derek's car but doesn't explain how and thanks Scott for saving his life. Scott then sees Allison. She tells him that she doesn't understand why he did what he did in the school and says she doesn't trust him anymore. He begs her to reconsider but she tells him not to call her._**

"Knowing what I know now, I feel like such an ass" Allison said covering her face with both hands. "It's not your fault" Scott said and Allison peeked at him, "I mean I would probably not trust myself if I was in your position too" he smiled at her which she returned. Scott looked back at the screen while Allison still looked at him. She could clearly see the hurt he was trying to hide in his eyes which made her feel all the more bad about what had happened. "You know Dr. Deaton, you sure appear and re appear at the most oddest of times" Boyde said looking at the vet sitting right beside him.


	9. 1-8

**_Stiles is performing the age-old best friend rite of post-breakup drinking. He's brought a bottle of Jack Daniels which seemingly has no effect on Scott._**

"Wait does that mean I can never get drunk again?" Scott suddenly asked looking at the Hale's. Peter shook his head, "One of the negative sides of being a werewolf" he said. Melissa looked at Peter then at Scott who was pouting in his seat when something suddenly clicked in her head, "Wait! Drunk AGAIN!? When the hell did you get drunk!?" she almost screeched. Scott looked anywhere but at his mother while rest resumed the episode.

 ** _Stiles talks about how much he likes Lydia while Scott glowers for the first time when he denies he and Allison are broken up. He claims they're 'on a break'._**

"Well doesn't this feel like an episode of F.R.I.E.N.D.S." Erika spoke up as those that heard her laughed. Lydia looked at the laughing guy beside her. "So he really is serious about me. More than Jackson ever could be maybe?" she thought to herself.

 ** _Scott and Stiles are harassed by Unger and Reddick, who want to take their alcohol. Scott starts to shift and throws the bottle against a tree whiles Stiles drags him away. Unfortunately, this doesn't save the thugs, as they are attacked by the Alpha, and Unger is tossed into a lit up garbage can._**

"You know" Chris started, "They were thugs and all but they did not deserve the last part" he finished as the rest nodded. Victoria gave her husband a side look while he was staring at the screen. She knew exactly those two were and she was damn sure her husband knew them as well.

 ** _In the newly reopened Beacon Hills High School, Lydia and Allison discuss whether Allison made the right decision, with Lydia supporting her all the way. It seems they all think that Scott locked them into the classroom to die, rather than to protect them._**

"And now I feel like an ass" Lydia said looking down. "You didn't know. So you thinking that is not so wrong, even though I would pretty sure argue it with you if you ever said it in front of me. Don't beat yourself up for something that is yet to happen" Stiles finished with a smile which Lydia returned half-heartedly. Allison looked at Scott who was looking at the screen. She could easily see that the words had hurt him but he did not want to show it. She sighed internally and looked back at the screen.

 ** _Further down the hall, Stiles asks his dad to be careful because of the full moon. His dad explains that he's brought in the state detective for extra help._**

"I don't think a state detective will be of any use to you here Noah" Rafael said. Noah sighed and nodded.

 ** _In class, Mr. Harris blocks Scott from talking to Allison, telling him to take his seat for the test._**

"Douchebag" Erica muttered.

 ** _He then begins what appears to be an economics exam which is odd because Harris is the Chemistry Teacher at Beacon Hills High School. Scott begins to see the words on the paper rearrange to ask him if he will kill some or all of his friends when the full moon rises. He runs out of the classroom while Stiles follows._**

"That was kinda creepy. It's like he is being haunted or something. Does this always happen to you?" Isaac said looking at Scott. "I know" Scott said looking back at Isaac. "No it doesn't. Guess it maybe because of the full moon" he said. "That and you little emotional turmoil" Laura added. Scott looked at her and nodded a little.

 ** _He finds Scott in the locker room. Stiles tosses his inhaler and talks about the placebo effect, and reveals that Scott is having a panic attack. He explains that he used to have them all the time after his mother died._**

"You what? And you never told me!?" Noah asked looking at his son in shock. Stiles shrugged, "You were…occupied with your work dad. Didn't want to disturb you" he said, leaving out the part of all the drinking session. Something that Noah seemed to notice as his eyes took on a more depressed look as he nodded. Claudia looked from her husband to her son. Both of them had the same look in their eyes, the look of loss. Her heart went out for the two most important men in her life. They had to go through so much, all because of her. She felt tears form at the back of her eyes when she felt a squeeze on her hand. She looked to her side to see that Noah was clutching to her hand, "It is not your fault love" he said and then put a hand up when she was about to protest. "You did not choose to leave us. You did not choose to die. It is not your fault" he finished his words with a gentle kiss to her forehead and pulled her close to himself. Claudia cuddled closer to him as the couple watched the episode, both with smiles on their faces.

 ** _Over at the Argent house Chris and Kate are conferring with the other hunters. Among their number appears to be the state detective seen earlier._**

"Do you have hunters everywhere?" Stiles asked Chris. Chris shrugged his soldiers, "There are quite a few of us. All of them spread out. I can't really tell you how many we have" he said. Stiles nodded his head and looked back at the screen.

 ** _As they talk about trying to find Derek, Allison's mom comes in with a tray of cookies. "You find him, you kill him and you cut him in half," her mom says mercilessly. "Anybody want a cookie?" she then offers._**

"Remind me never to get on her bad side" Stiles whispered to Lydia who giggled lightly at his antics.

 ** _Back in the locker room, Coach Finstock is explaining that the team has a pink eye epidemic. This means Stiles gets moved up to first line, which he is excited about._**

"Finally!" Stiles whooped from his spot.

 ** _Scott and Jackson are announced as co-captains. Jackson is annoyed about sharing captain duties with Scott and seems to be offended that his best friend Danny is okay about it._**

"I'm sure you would do great as a captain" Allison smiled at Scott who did not hear what she said. Scott himself was in his mind thinking about his new position in the team. He was happy but he would have been happier to be able to share this with Allison. Allison frowned and looked back at the screen, leaning back into her chair.

 ** _When Scott mentions that he can smell jealousy, Stiles puts him on a mission to find out if Lydia is at all sexually attracted to him. When Scott asks to speak to her in private, Lydia talks about how Allison was stupid to let him go, and how grateful she was for his protection. She then willingly kisses him, and they make out in an empty classroom._**

"Lydia!" Allison shrieked at her best friend who herself was staring at the screen in shock. Stiles looked at Scott, his eyes wide while Scott looked back at him with equal amounts of surprise. There was a moment passed between the two boys as they both nodded and looked back at the screen in silence. Allison glared at Lydia who shrunk into her seat, she couldn't believe what her best friend had done and then something clicked in her mind. "She had trusted Scott and believed that he was protecting them. Something that I should have done in the first place" she thought. She turned back to the screen feeling far worse than she had felt before.

 ** _On the lacrosse field Scott gets angry after getting knocked down and his vision becomes red as he runs the drill again. He easily knocks two players down and hits Danny in the face, leaving him with a bloody nose. While Stiles scolds Scott for hurting Danny, Jackson notices that Lydia's perfect shiny lip gloss is smudged. Stiles overhears, and realizes what went on in the classroom between Scott and Lydia. Meanwhile, Kate teaches Allison how to use a stun gun, and becomes curious about Scott's connection to Derek after Allison mentions that the two were together. Stiles heads over to the McCall house, finding a bloodthirsty looking Scott skulking in a chair in the dark. After tricking Scott into thinking he was going to chain him down, Stiles handcuffs him to a radiator in his room, for his own good against the coming full moon, and because he kissed Lydia. Scott, under the influence of the full moon, taunts him with details of the events with Lydia and claims he will kill him if he is not freed._**

"Okay dude I do not want to hear that" Stiles groaned covering his ears with his hands. "I think you should be worried more about the fact that he will kill you" Chris said from his spot. Stiles looked at the older Argent and smiled, "He won't kill me" he said simply. "How can you be so sure? He isn't exactly human here" Victoria said and the rest of the room now looked at him. "Isn't it obvious?" he asked her, "He might not exactly be human, but he is still Scott McCall. He is still my best friend who would be lost without me" he grinned looking at Scott who snorted. Chris looked between the two boys before looking back at the screen. "Friend huh" he thought to himself.

 ** _Across town, Allison and Jackson run into each other in a sporting goods store and go to talk to each other in Jackson's car. Allison tells Jackson that she knows her dad is lying to her and that she knows living in the Argent weapon emporium is not normal. Jackson confides that the shape he saw in the school looked human until it got down on all fours and scurried away like an animal._**

"Well isn't he observant. Not to mention friendly" Chris said with a raised eyebrow. "Maybe he just wants to get this mystery solved?" Cora asked. "Nope" Lydia spoke up, "He is more interested in getting to Allison than anything else. Just to show Scott off" she finished with a scowl.

 ** _Back at Scott's house Stiles gets suspicious when he can't hear Scott anymore and goes to check on him only to see that Scott has broken out. Scott tracks Jackson and Allison. Affected by both the blood thirst from the full moon and his anger, Scott sees they are kissing, rather than talking. Before he can attack the two, Derek appears and knocks him into the woods, where the two fight until Scott returns to his senses._**

"You're alive!" Cora squealed and hugged her big brother. Derek looked down at his little sister. It had been years since he had been hugged like this. Both his sisters were giving him the love he had been missing for the last many years of his life. Slowly he returned the hug. "Of course I did" he said in a shaky voice patting her back gently. Cora broke the hug and gave him a big smile before returning to the episode. Derek looked at his sister before he looked back at the screen, a very small smile on his face. A smile which his older sister and mother noticed, bringing a smile on their faces a s well.

 ** _Looking for Scott, Stiles pulls up on an ambulance taking away a body, worried that it might be his father. It is revealed that his father is okay, and the two hug while the camera pulls back to reveal Allison's father and Aunt Kate watching. Kate explains that Stiles is a friend of Allison's, and concludes that the beta they saw was not only just smaller, but possibly younger. They suspect Stiles of being the second beta._**

"Now that ladies and gents is pure bull" Stiles says in a show host like voice as the room chuckles. "The kid has a point" Chris said through his chuckles.

 ** _Derek takes Scott home, where he asks for a cure. Derek mentions a theoretical cure: killing the werewolf that bit him, which means killing The Alpha however he does not know if its true. Derek promises that if Scott can help him find the alpha that Derek will help him kill it._**

"Is there really such a cure?" Scott asked looking at Talia. Talia looked at her son for a moment before she faced Scott, "Such a thing has been possible for vampires. You killed the one who turned you and the turned become human again. For werewolves I have not heard such a thing" she said. She knew what Derek was trying here. Giving Scott a false hope to help him take the Alpha out. She decided not to speak her mind here and see how things go.

 ** _On a cliff overlooking the town, The Alpha is seen transforming back into human form. Jackson finds a piece of Scott's claw on his car and compares it to Scott's ripped lacrosse glove._**

"That Alpha looks quite short" Boyde says, "Almost the same height as you Dr. Deaton" he gave the vet a side look which the vet returned. "Is that so?" he asked him with a smile. Boyde said nothing and just looked back at the screen. "Also Jackson will figure it out soon" Isaac said, "He has your claw and glove. Though I wonder what he is doing with it in the first place" he questioned. "Maybe" Erika said looking at the boy beside her, "He actually has a crush on Scott and is being a stalker" she finished and those of her year broke into laughter. "Jackson stalking Scott!? Oh God!" Isaac said in between his laughs. "That does explain so much" Stiles said whipping a tear from his eyes. The young ones calmed down and looked back at the screen as the next episode began.


	10. 1-9

**_Mr. Harris is confronted by the Alpha. When Derek Hale appears to question the professor and capture the Alpha, the cops show up. Scott, driving Derek's car, pulls up in time for a quick getaway. The Argents, as well as the cops, chase Derek._**

"That was nice of you" Laura said with a small smile at Scott who nodded his head. "Don't touch my car" Derek grunted making his sister groan.

 ** _He mentions a note he took from Harris with a strange symbol on it. Scott says he recognizes the symbol from Allison's necklace._**

"How did he get that?" Victoria whispered to Chris who just shrugged.

 ** _We cut to Jackson getting his neck examined by a doctor. During the examination, Jackson hallucinates Derek pulling Wolfsbane out of the scratch on his neck._**

"Well guess he has wolfsbane poisoning" Derek shrugged not really caring. "And he saw you pulling that thing out of him. Why do you think that?" Laura asked looking at her brother. Derek shrugged again, "Maybe because I scratched him".

 ** _He wakes up, startled, and the doctor tells Jackson that he has Aconitum poisoning, which allows him to piece together that Scott is a werewolf. After the examination, he confronts Scott. Without saying it directly, Jackson implies that he knows that Scott is a werewolf. Jackson threatens to inform Allison about it if Scott does not give him what he wants, which is, apparently, to also be a werewolf._**

"He wants to be a wolf. Next thing we know he would try to kill an alpha just because of his superiority complex" Peter groaned. He really did not like this kid nor did he want him as a beta.

 ** _Stiles says he might have a plan but it involves Scott getting Allison's necklace. To try to reconnect with her he sends pictures of them together but it makes her upset and they both leave in the middle of class._**

"Dude no" Stiles groaned rubbing his face. "That is not how you reconnect Scott" Lydia said from beside Stiles. Allison said nothing but watched.

 ** _In the hallway, she again tells him not to talk to her but clarifies now explaining that she needs more time before she is comfortable being just friends._**

"There now you get a clear indication" Erika says a bit louder than usual. Allison looked to Scott who sat silently, not really paying any attention to anyone.

 ** _However, unlike before, Jackson follows up his threats by trying to get into Scott's mind. During lunchtime, he talks to Scott from far away, knowing that Scott can hear what he's saying. He says he will make Scott's life miserable and ruin any chance he has left with Allison by taking her away for himself unless Scott infects him with Lycanthropy. Jackson carries forth his plan as we see him flirting with Allison during swimming practice. He also invites her to the lacrosse game._**

"That guy is a he pain in the ass for everyone" Isaac said with a shake of his head. Allison looked back at Scott and noticed that his eyes were shut close and he was taking in deep breathes through his nose. She had enough of the silence and stood up. "Come with me" Allison said and without waiting for an answer, she pulled Scott out of his and to the hallway which led to the bedrooms. She guided him to the room she shared with Lydia and closed the door behind them. "We need to talk" she said looking at her boyfriend. "Talk about what?" he asked meeting her gaze. "About us Scott" she said taking his hands in hers. "I know I hurt you" she began when Scott interrupted, "And I said that its okay. You didn't know any of it" he said. Allison shook her head, "I might not have known anything, but I know I still hurt you" she said. Scott looked at her, their eyes looking into each other's and he sighed. "I had hoped you would trust me. I hoped you would have known me enough to know that I would never let anything harm you" he said in a whisper. Allison wrapped her arms around him and hugged him as tight as she could, burying her face into his chest. "I know Scott. And I feel so bad seeing what happened. And you should know" she looked up at him with a small smile, "I would never not have feelings for you. Even if a slime ball like Jackson tries anything, I will still be yours first" she stood on her tiptoes and brushed her lips on his. Scott leaned down and met her lips fully as the two shared a kiss. It did not last long but it was long enough for Scott to be rid of his insecurities and dark thoughts. They broke the kiss and looked at each other with smiles on their faces. "I think we should go back now. Before the others think we are fighting or something else" Allison suggested and the two walked back.

While the two were gone, Peter had a talk of his own with someone. "Sky we need to talk" he said out loud. " _What would you like to talk about?_ " came the question from right behind him, making him jump. Peter looked behind him with a scowl. "That Jackson you sent back. He knows about us and why Scott is getting so much better than him. What if he goes out to seek some alpha to turn him. He would be a bad choice for a wolf and dangerous as well if he doesn't get what he wants" he said with an edge to his voice. He was about to say more when Sky held up his hand, " _I know what you mean and no what you are thinking is not the best solution. When I sent him back, I took away his memories of this place and everything he saw here. He will not be a huge pain in the ass for anyone."_ Peter looked at the winged man for a moment before he nodded and sat back down while Sky disappeared again. "What was your plan Peter?" his sister asked. Peter shrugged, "Nothing big Talia. Nothing big" was all he said making Talia narrow her eyes at him.

It was after a few moments from then that the couple returned and sat back in their spot. The two held each other's hand tightly as the episode resumed.

 ** _We shift to Stiles' room. He has invited Danny over to investigate a mysterious text to Allison that wasn't sent by Scott. Danny at first refuses but Stiles uses Derek, whom he calls his "cousin Miguel" to seduce him into complying. We then shift to Stiles following the trace of the text to Scott's mother's computer at work._**

"Cousin Miguel" Laura snorts and claps Derek on the back. "Definitely suits you" she said with a grin. Derek glared at Stiles who looked anywhere but him.

 ** _Allison, who wanders into the Hale house, is followed by her Aunt Kate. She tells her aunt that she wants to be stronger. Kate tells her that if she's patient, she'll show her how to do that. At the lacrosse game, Jackson and Scott discuss their situation. This time, Jackson isn't as smug as before. Scott tells him that only an Alpha can change him. He also tells him that there are others, and also hunters who will kill them. Jackson realizes that the Argents are the hunters because their name translates to "silver" in French. He realizes they will kill them if they find out what they are._**

"Well at least he isn't slow" Chris said. "When the matter concerns him" Lydia replied with an eye roll at her ex.

 ** _At the hospital, Stiles learns the Alpha is Derek's uncle, Peter Hale._**

"Now that is pure bull crap!" Peter shouted. But when he saw himself on screen, he was stunned to silence. The whole room looked at him with fear and anger, except his sister. "I can't be" Peter muttered to himself. "A pack" Talia began, "not only makes the alpha stronger, but helps him in many other ways. If you had one after the incident, then maybe you wouldn't have become this. You look far less human here, and I'm not talking about looks. Your way of talking, the way you move. All of this points to psychological injury which have yet to heal properly". Peter sat back in his chair not saying a thing. He ran several scenarios as to why he would even become something like that. And then it clicked, "Kate Argent" he growled in his head.

 ** _As Peter is about to kill Stiles, Derek comes to save him. Derek is dominated by the older and stronger werewolf and ends with Uncle Peter offering Derek a compromise seeing as they are family._**

"At least he knows friend and foe" Laura said to herself. "I wouldn't be so sure here. I seem to be moving on instinct here. Meaning I just want Derek as a member of my pack. SO I can do whatever I plan on doing" Peter said as the room looked at the horror struck wolf.

 ** _Back at the lacrosse game, Scott overhears the Argents talking about the scar on Jackson's neck. Kate asks Chris if the werewolf curse could be transferred via a scratch. He tells her it could if the wound is deep enough. The episode ends with Scott standing on the lacrosse field newly surprised that Jackson may expose him as a werewolf._**

"Knowing that idiot, he would definitely get you exposed" Lydia said in a grumble. "So does that mean that Jackson could already be a werewolf in that time?" Stiles asked and the room got silent. "We won't know until we see it for ourselves" Scott said and the next episode came on.


	11. 1-10

**_The episode picks up with the lacrosse team celebrating another victory. As Scott searches for Stiles, he bumps into Allison. She tells him how well he did and how hard she cheered for him._**

"Guess we are getting closer again" Scott mumbled to Allison who squeezed his hand with a smile on her face.

 ** _In the locker room, Danny tells Scott he accepts his apology from elbowing him before. Scott says he didn't apologize, but he did pass to Danny for the entire game._**

"Ah team mate love. How I miss it" Peter said with a sigh. "You were in a team?" Stiles asked the not yet insane wolf. Peter rolled his eyes, "I might be a raging lunatic there but I was not always like that. Plus I was in the basketball team" he said.

 ** _When the team leaves, the lights go out and Scott finds Derek, joined by his uncle Peter. They try to convince him to join their Wolf Pack._**

"Come join the dark side" Stiles said in a Vadar like voice which made those who watched the film chuckle.

 ** _Peter says he wants Scott to see his side of things and digs his claws into Scott's neck, enabling Scott to see Peter's memories._**

"That..was…I don't know how to say it" Peter said in a whisper as everyone looked on in silence.

 **After having dreams of Scott, Allison wakes up and notices her necklace is missing.**

 **"** Naughty girl" Lydia said from her seat with a smirk making Allison blush. "Shut up" Allison whispered trying to hide into herself.

 **She decides to look in her car, when the garage opens. It's her dad and Kate, who is trying to convince him to teach her the family trade. He tells her it's not time yet and storms off, but Kate leaves a strange arrowhead for Allison to discover.**

Chris curls his hands into fists. He had planned on not putting Allison down this line of work and now his idiotic and if he was right murdering psychopath of a sister was messing it all up.

 ** _Jackson, driving his car through an abandoned parking lot, is shocked when the car has some sort of trouble. As he goes to look at the problem, Allison's father drives up and offers help with the car. As Jackson leans in to look at the problem, he gets a closer look at the scars on Jackson's neck._**

"Who drives around in an abandoned parking lot like that" Stiles said flailing his arms around. "Apparently Jackson. And would you stop doing that before you hit me" Lydia said pointing a glare at Stiles who smiled sheepishly.

 ** _Scott and Stiles pull up, and offer Jackson Whittemore a ride to get help. Allison's father takes whatever device he'd planted in Jackson's car and leaves, claiming to have fixed Jackson's problem._**

"That wasn't creepy at all dad" Allison said looking at her father oddly. "Hey I needed t find out if he was a wolf. Be glad I went for safe route and not the other one" Chris said with half a smile.

 ** _As Allison and Lydia are hiking in the woods, Allison mentions that Jackson asked her to the winter formal before revealing that she knows that Lydia kissed Scott in the coach's office. Allison pulls out a bow and arrow to test out the arrow her Aunt Kate left her. It explodes upon impact with a tree._**

"I'm sorry about that" Lydia said raising her hand like a guilty child. Allison looked at her friend before looking back at the screen. "That thing is dangerous" Stiles mumbled over to Scott who nodded his head.

 ** _Back out in the abandoned parking lot, Jackson tells Scott to make him a werewolf. Scott tries telling him how hard out there it truly is for a werewolf, with Jackson claiming he can handle it. Jackson says that just because Scott has a hard time with his werewolf abilities doesn't mean that he won't know how to handle it. He claims that Scott has all the power in the world, but doesn't know how to use it._**

"He is partially right there" Talia began. "All betas have problems controlling themselves. But yes Scott you do have a lot of power in you. You just need to learn to use them properly".

 ** _Out in the woods, Allison hears a noise and gives her bow to Lydia for safekeeping while she investigates. She accidentally uses a stun gun on Scott, who gives her back her necklace, claiming he found it at school. She hugs Scott, then walks away._**

"Painful way to greet someone" Laura winced. "I'm so sorry" Allison turned to Scott who was smiling, "You already said that. And look we are hugging now", Allison smiled to that.

 ** _Stiles sees his dad working late and gets him some whiskey, which he uses to intoxicate his father, in an effort to get information about the case._**

"This boy is going to send me to the grave way before it's my time" Noah groaned rubbing his face while Stiles laughed nervously.

 ** _He finds out some useful information. All the people previously killed by the alpha had some connection to the Hale fire. The bus driver was an inspector fired for fraud. The video store clerk and guys from the woods were arsonists._**

"So it isn't mindless murder" Cora muttered, "it's all about vengeance" she said looking at her uncle who was staring intently at the screen

 ** _He also finds out that Derek's eyes blind the camera mugshots of himself. His father, under the alcohol, finally unveils in a sweetly touching scene how much he misses both talking to Stiles and Stiles' mother._**

"Oh Noah" Claudia say cuddling into her husband who holds her close. Stiles looks at his father with sadness in his eyes. "Guess I wasn't the only one" he thought to himself.

 ** _In his room, Scott gets a call informing him he will need to get an extension on his paper if he wants to pass the class. Allison visits Scott, and begins to tell him the suspicions she has about her family. They're interrupted by Scott's mother, who is going on a date. Needing more time to prepare, she has Scott head down to the door for her, but before he even turns the knob his wolf senses act up. Peter Hale is at the door, taking Scott's mom out on a date._**

"Guess a coma and a deranged personality hasn't made your playboy side go extinct" Talia said with a roll of her eyes. "I still got it" Peter silently cheered ignoring his sister.

 ** _Back in the locker room, Jackson is confronted by Derek. He convinces Jackson that he'll turn him into a werewolf, and Jackson follows him eagerly. On their date, Scott's mom notices that Peter has missed the turn for the restaurant. In an effort to save his mother, Scott has Stiles rear end her car. Peter tells Scott he is truly impressed by Scott's cunning, and reveals Derek's plans to kill Jackson._**

"Guess even lunatic me doesn't like the brat" Peter thought to himself with a mental snort.

 ** _Derek takes Jackson to the Hale House and explains that everything he wants is inside. Inside, Jackson realizes he's seen the house before in his dreams. Jackson realizes that Derek is going to murder him and begs for his life. Derek explains that there's a reason no one is there to protect him. Scott appears to save Jackson, and reveals his full werewolf form to him._**

"Finally a werewolf brawl!" Stiles whooped. "10 dollars on Derek!" Laura shouted much to the displeasure of Derek. "50 on Derek" Stiles said earning him a surprised look from his best friend. "What!? Do you really expect you can beat him in this fight?" Stiles asked. Scott thought for a moment, "True" he said with a shrug and a smile.

 ** _Before they can face off, however, wolfsbane bullets riddle the house and hit Scott. Derek helps him escape, and then opens the door to a blazing white light._**

"Must you hunters ruin everything!?" Stiles said with a groan. Chris and Victoria looked at the boy with an amused look on their faces.

 ** _In the woods Scott passes out and awakens to find his boss, the vet tending to his wounds._**

"You knew!?" Scott asked looking at his boss who shrugged. "It seems I do" Deaton said with a smile. "You might not be the alpha doc but you sure do have great timing" he said with narrowed eyes. Something told him that there was much more to this vet than what meets the eye.

 ** _Allison finally gets tired of waiting for Scott and responds to a text from Aunt Kate. In an underground facility, she reveals a captured Derek Hale in full werewolf form._**

"Why is he shirtless!?" Laura asked the hunters. "Your brother got captured and probably is going to get tortured and all you care is how he is shirtless?" Chris asked with a raised eyebrow. Laura shrugged, "Derek is a big boy, he will get out" she said with an air of confidence as the next episode began.


	12. 1-11

**_The episode opens with some back and forth flashes. In one scene, Allison is in her car getting pulled over for speeding. When Stiles' father comes to talk to her about the 75 she was doing in a 25 mph area she begins crying and mumbling to herself. This understandably freaks out Stiles' dad, as she chants "This is not me" and has a miniature mental breakdown in front of him. She finally pulls herself together after forcefully requesting a ticket._**

"You know, if I were you I would totally roll with it and not force a ticket" Stiles said with a snort. "That is not the matter here. The matter is why she is having a breakdown in the first place" Scott says holding Allison close.

 ** _Her breakdown is understandable as in the other scene she's watching her beloved Aunt Kate's endearing murderous side. Aunt Kate electrifies Derek and then displays out his pointy teeth. Allison wanted to feel strong? Well, Aunt Kate wants to take Allison on a beta hunt to find the last werewolf._**

"That explains it" Scott growled under his breath holding on to Allison. Laura clung to Derek, afraid that he would poof away and get tortured. Derek said nothing to this. Mainly because he had missed his family hugging him.

 ** _Scott is recovering from his wounds in the vet's office. Peter Hale comes to pick up Scott but Dr. Deaton isn't having it. He tries to cross the desk but pulls his hand back. "Mountain ash, that's an old one." He throws a chair into the wall next to the vet, but he doesn't even flinch and tells him to come back at regular hours._**

"That was bad ass" Boyde muttered making Deaton chuckle. "Oh God I am a Psychopath!" Peter groaned. "You figured it out now?" Chris asked, raising an eyebrow. "Well the previous killings were revenge. This just is another reason in whole" he says.

 ** _Scott searches desperately for his phone. Stiles thinks Scott should let Derek go but Scott is determined to save him. Outside, he hears his mom leave a cute but mostly pathetic voicemail for Peter before breaking down into tears. Stiles says Scott can't save everyone and Scott looks concerned._**

"You sir are an ass" Scott said glaring at Peter who shrunk into himself a little. "Asshole brother aside. Thank you Scott for not giving up on my son" Talia said with a smile. Scott nodded his head smiling back.

 ** _Allison is tossing and turning in bed. Scott is protecting her from the roof. He's fighting off his exhaustion but finally his eyes close and he falls off the roof._**

"You stayed up all night?" Allison asked looking at Scott. The boy nodded, "Yeah" he smiled. "Romantic mushy moment aside" Stiles interrupted, "That fall had to hurt".

 ** _In the locker room, Coach Finstock is telling Scott that he can't go to the dance because he's failing. Coach is keeping him on the team because he'd rather lose his other testicle than his best player, but the dance is a non-starter._**

"That seems a bit…extreme?" Melissa asked pulling on the last words. The members of the Lacrosse team shrugged, "That's just coach being coach" Isaac said.

 ** _Scott then tries to convince Jackson to take Allison to the dance by stressing how much danger she'll be in without someone looking out for her. Jackson tells Scott and Stiles to screw each other and huffs away. Of course moments after Scott harshly threatens him in his wolf form, Jackson nervously confirms his date with Allison._**

"Man that was sweet" Stiles laughed out loud. "I love you so much" Allison laughed out hugging Scott. Scott hugged her back and then they both stiffened realizing what Allison had just said.

 ** _In the Macy's, Lydia and Allison are shopping. Despite the fact that Lydia has bought Allison a dress as an "I'm sorry I made out with your boyfriend when he wasn't really your boyfriend" present, Allison is still pissed. So Lydia's punishment is to attend the dance with Stiles, who is at that moment sampling the fine selection of perfumes at a Macy's counter and sneezing. "Don't frown Lydia, someone could be falling in love with your smile," Allison echoes back her advice from moments before as Lydia's pink shiny lip gloss looks suicidal._**

"Good to know that I am a punishment" Stiles frowned. Allison looked at him apologetically, "I am so sorry Stiles" she said. Lydia rubbed his arm with a smile, "I don't think it's a punishment" she said making Stiles smile.

 ** _Elsewhere, in the dank dungeon, Kate wonders if Derek told his sister about what really happened with the fire. Kate and Derek have more of a history than trying to kill each other—at one point they were lovers. "You got tricked by a pretty face. Handsome young werewolf mistakenly falls in love with a super-hot girl who comes from a family that kills werewolves," Kate explains helpfully. She says that he'll have to help her to track down his pack again. It'll be history repeating itself—which is the phrase that gets stuck in her head. It takes her a second to realize that Jackson isn't the other beta, because it's Scott who is in love with Allison._**

The Hales looked at Derek in shock while the man in question looked down. "I am sorry. I did not know she was planning all this then" Derek said in a hushed voice. Talia got up from her place and walked over to Derek and made a move towards him. Derek closed his eyes waiting for the hit to come. But what instead came really shocked him. His mother, the one who was killed because of him was hugging him as tightly as possible. "It's not your fault Derek" she whispered, kissing his head. "But it is" Derek pushed her away and got up himself, "If I was not such a horny teen and thought with my head, Cora wouldn't be missing. Laura would still be alive. Peter wouldn't be a psychopath" he said in a rush, panting slightly. "And" the words caught in his throat, "You would still be there" he whispered out as tears rolled down his cheeks. "Derek" Peter got up, "I might still have been a psychopath. But it isn't your fault. It's that bitch's fault. And for that I hope future me does her in" Peter growled the last part out. Laura and Cora got up and hugged their brother and Talia joined in. "It is not your fault Derek. Stop blaming yourself!" Laura said holding her brother tightly. Derek said nothing. He kept quiet as the words settled in him and he felt a burden slowly lift itself from his chest. Peter walked forward and guided the family back to their seats before he sat down.

Chris watched it in silence. While the hunter part in him was glad for the death of the wolves, it was also pissed beyond limits that Kate broke the code. "Whatever fate comes to her now. I am not helping her out" he thought to himself. Kate might be his sister, but right now she was less human and more demon.

 ** _At Scott's house, his mom is mending his pants and telling him to be truthful with Allison. In this she means tell Allison how he really feels about her. "Women like words," she advises._**

"Well she isn't wrong" almost all of the girls agreed to this.

 ** _At the dance, things are going awkwardly. Jackson is pre-gaming even before they walk in the doors and Lydia is trying not to get down over Jackson's treatment. In the dance, Scott skulks around when he notices both Peter and Coach._**

"I look like a pedophile checking out all the young men in the room" Peter said with a disgusted look on his face. "Something you're not telling us here Peter?" Stiles joked then yelped when Peter glared at him.

 ** _Stiles forcefully asks Lydia to dance and then tells her he's been in love with her since the third grade. He knows that even though she made out with Scott for some weird power-trip reason behind her cold exterior there's a soul. He also points out that he's the only one who knows how smart she really is. He tells her one day she'll move on and get a Nobel Prize for some mathematical theorem to which she corrects that it'll be a Fields medal. "The Nobel isn't for mathematics. The Fields medal is the one I'll be winning," she says as they go dance._**

"That's more like it!" Stiles cheered with a big grin on his face. Lydia looked at the Stiles on screen then back at the boy sitting beside her. "He is the first one to see through this much. Does he really like me for me or is it because of my looks" she thought to herself as she observed the weird specimen by the name of Stiles Stilinski.

 ** _At the dance, Scott is finally busted when Coach catches him and chases him through the dance. Bumping into Danny, Scott pulls him into a dance just as Coach finally catches up to him. "What the hell are you doing?" he asks in shock. But now everyone is looking at him and to not appear homophobic he backpedals and lets Scott stay at the dance. As Scott scurries away, Danny's date comes up to him with drinks and looks confused._**

"Well played Mr. McCall. Very well played" Deaton laughed and the room joined in. Even Derek let out a little laugh at this.

 ** _Scott bumps into Allison and soon they're slow dancing. Allison tries to back away from telling Scott more about her family and Scott tells her he loves her._**

"Guess I won't be the first one to say it this time" Scott whispered to a blushing Allison.

 ** _Outside, Jackson is wandering around the woods, following glowing red eyes and complaining about how he wants to be a werewolf. Instead, he bumps into Allison's father who finally gets the identity of the other beta out of him._**

"Are you sure he is a high school student? I mean he behaves like a child. No not just a child, a spoiled brat" Peter said through gritted teeth, pissed that Jackson picked out his beta for the hunters. "Even if he might never be my beta" Peter thought to himself.

 ** _Back at the dance, Lydia pulls away from Stiles and leaves him to go look for Jackson, but the two pass as Jackson heads back into the dance. Stiles immediately finds Jackson and knows that something terrible has happened._**

Lydia looked at Stiles who was staring at the screen with wide eyes. And by the way he was sitting, it looked like he was about to jump out and jump into the screen to save her. She smiled to herself. "Guess he is genuine" she thought.

 ** _Out on the dark lacrosse field, Lydia is calling for Jackson. Soon the lights are flashing on the alpha is chomping down on Lydia. Stiles manages to save her by cluing in Peter that Derek is the one that most likely took Scott's phone for its GPS feature._**

"Oh my god!" Allison gasped. "Peter we do not bite the neck!" Talia screamed at her brother, "You know how much bleeding that causes!". "Well excuse me, I'm a bit unhinged there so it slipped my mind. House fire and six years of metal torture and all that" Peter rolled his eyes. Lydia was about to say something when she felt a hand on her neck. She looked to her side and saw a fearful Stiles checking her neck out. "Stiles" she said snapping him out of his fear trance, "I'm fine" she said softly. "Oh uh yeah of course" Stiles mumbled and sat down properly again.

 ** _Outside again, Scott and Allison are tumbling out of the dance and towards the school buses. While Scott realizes that history could be about to repeat itself this déjà vu is clearly no match for his hormones. Allison runs into the bus and kisses the window just at that moment Allison's father pulls up, shining his headlights at Scott. On the other side of Scott is another car and they both drive towards him at the same time. Allison screams in the bus and then gasps, because Scott has jumped between the two cars. But more importantly, he's in full out werewolf mode exposing himself to Allison._**

"Dad!" Allison screamed punching her father's arm. "Why did you have to do that!?" she glared at her father. "He is just trying to protect you Allison. Like all fathers do for their children" Scott spoke up before Chris could say anything. Chris looked at Scott for a moment before he nodded at Allison, "What Scott said is right. I'm your father and it falls on me to protect you from anything" he said putting a hand on her head. Allison said nothing but held up her glare. On the other side of the room, Rafael looked at the back of his son as his words repeated in his head.


	13. 1-12

**_Allison is going to be removed from the town for her own safety since so much is going on that involves people of the town._**

"Oh come one! I can't just leave Scott alone when my unstable aunt is in town" Allison protested. "It's for your own safety" her mother said and gave Allison a look which ended any and all future remarks from her.

 ** _Allison wants answers but everyone wants her to stay quiet and they don't want to reveal too much. The only person who can find the Alpha is Scott McCall and now it is time to call upon him to fix what's going on. Allison cannot stop thinking about Scott and how much she cares about him; all the things that they said to each other._**

Allison looked to Scott while Scott looked to Allison. The two shared a silent moment in silence before Allison blushed lightly with a small smile which was mirrored on Scott's face.

 ** _Stiles needs to help hack in to Scott's laptop; he claims that he can't but that is not the answer Peter Hale wants to hear. Derek and Scott are both needed to kill the Argents and Stiles is needed to find Derek so everyone must help each other to survive. It is discovered that both Scott's username and password on his computer is Allison._**

"Yeah I think Scott isn't really a good addition to the pack" Peter joked while Scott protested to it, feeling insulted. "Well I think you'd make a good werewolf pack member" Allison said trying to cheer the pouting beta which seemed to work.

 ** _Derek Hale is being kept at his own house, which is the big shock for the head of the pack but they will find him regardless. Lydia's life is in question when she is rushed to the hospital, half dead after the semi-formal. Allison stops at the hospital to see Lydia who was bitten and turned in to a werewolf so she can fully understand why she must leave. Even Scott is a threat to her and no one is safe in the town._**

"No way is Scott a threat. He won't hurt anyone" Stiles said with confidence. "Are you sure of that young man" Chris asked eyeing Stiles who smirked, "I can bet my life on it. Scott will never hurt someone innocent". Chris looked at him for a moment before looking back at the screen.

 ** _Stiles is offered the "bite" to become a werewolf. That is if he doesn't die. Scott was taken first but Stiles could have very easily been bitten as well as he watched his best friend become the big man on campus. Stiles refuses the bite though it seems that he somewhat wants this werewolf power and to be a part of the pack._**

Scott turned to face Stiles who just shrugged at him. "You might not be a wolf but you are still an important friend of mine" Scott said with a smile. "Yeah yeah I know. Without me you would be so lost" Stiles joked but internally he was really happy to hear it.

 ** _Stiles arrives at the hospital, where Lydia keeps going into shock in her hospital bed. It is questioned whether or not Stiles or Scott saw anything; Stiles claims he knows nothing. Jackson and Stiles are constantly questioned about where Scott is; they decline to say. There is apparently nothing scarier than seeing a friend turn into a werewolf and having to lock them up to save yourself, as Chris explains. Stiles retorts, bringing up the Hale Fire and how a hunter broke their code of conduct._**

"I have done that and no it wasn't scary at all" Stiles boasted, puffy his chest a little. Chris though was more occupied by the thought of the Hale fire and how his sister was the root of it.

 ** _Scott and Derek are in the woods when Derek is shot with two arrows by Allison. She then fires a flash grenade arrow, blinding Scott._**

"Sorry" Allison apologized. While Scott accepted it with a smile and a kiss on the cheek, Derek remained silent.

 ** _Derek gets up and pulls Scott with him, attempting to escape. Scott is confronted by Allison. She does not believe that everything Scott did was to protect her. Kate tells Allison that they now have to kill the captured werewolves. Allison says that she thought they were only going to catch them. Kate replies by saying "We did that, now we kill them."_**

"The more I see her, the more I hate her" Isaac said in a heavy voice, running his fingers through his hair.

 ** _To prove her point she shoots Derek with a gun. She realizes Allison won't kill Scott and is about to do it herself when Chris steps in, claiming there is no proof that he has killed anyone. He also reveals he knows about Kate's involvement in the fire with Kate declaring she did what she was supposed to. Chris tells her no one asked her to murder innocent people; revealing that there were children both human and werewolf in the house. When she doesn't put her gun down, Chris pulls one on her._**

"Go Mr. Argent!" Stiles cheered joined in by Boyde and Isaac. "She really doesn't care about the casualties" Allison said, eyes wide in horror. Scott looked at her before taking her hands in his and ran circles on the back of it. "It won't happen this time around. We know now and we will stop it" Scott said.

 ** _The Alpha then appears and begins to circle them. It knocks Chris to the ground, and drags Kate into the house to face her death, while Allison has no idea what to believe or think of all these new revelations. Kate is told to apologize for burning the house down. She chokes a sorry out, and Peter rips her throat out, claiming it wasn't sincere enough, right in front of Allison._**

No one batted an eye at the death of the demented woman. Not even the niece who used to love her nor her brother.

 ** _Scott comes to save Allison and tells her to go outside. Scott and Derek then attack Peter. Peter knocks Derek out, while him and Scott take the fight outside._**

"I can't believe you got knocked out so easily" Laura groaned. "You really need to train harder" Cora added to which Laura consented. Derek said nothing but his annoyance was clear from the twitching of his eyebrow.

 ** _Meanwhile Stiles and Jackson are on their way to find Scott. They arrive at Hale House to find a fully transformed Alpha. Stiles throws one of the "self-igniting" Molotov cocktails at it._**

"Hell yeah!" Stiles, Isaac and Boyde cheered.

 ** _The Alpha snatches it out of the air._**

"Damnit no!" they groaned.

 ** _Scott tosses Allison her bow, she shoots the bottle of volatile liquid and it bursts into flame. The Alpha's arm is on fire and when Jackson throws his own cocktail the creature is engulfed by fire. Scott remains in werewolf form until Allison kisses him. When he asks why she kissed him, her answer is that she loves him._**

Stiles made gagging noises from his places making Lydia slap him on the back. The force of the slap made him fall over and crash into the ground. "That hurt!" Stiles complained giving Lydia a look. "Well you deserve that for ruining the moment" she huffed.

 ** _Despite a protest from Scott, Derek goes to his uncle. Then, with one slash to the burned Peter's neck, Derek kills him and becomes the Alpha. Stiles and Scott return to the hospital to find that Lydia in is not a werewolf because her wound isn't healing leaving the question of what she is._**

"Yes Ms. Martin. Just what are you?" Peter looked at the girl with curiosity. Lydia fidgeted uncomfortably from the look she got when Stiles jumped in, "Stop looking at her like that you pedo" he said with a smirk. Peter gaped like a fish while the rest burst into laughter.

 ** _Jackson goes to see Derek, and asks again for the bite._**

"Please tell me you didn't" Peter groaned. Derek gave him a one eyebrow raised look before shrugging.

 ** _The newspaper headline suggests Kate Argent will be officially blamed for all the murders and linked to the Hale House Arson. Chris and Victoria discuss the imminent arrival of more Hunters and what they should do about Scott. Up on the roof, Allison and Scott are together staring at the moon._**

"What a romantic ending" Stiles said, stretching his arms as he got up from his seat. At just that moment Sky appeared, _"Alright people. This is the first few months of your lives after the whole Alpha incident. I have divided it into a few parts. Let's call em seasons. Next is season two. Like before I will ask again, you are free to leave so who wants to stay?"_


	14. 2-0

A few people were about to talk when Sky spoke up again. _"Right almost forgot"_ he shook his head, _"Those who decides to leave can't be brought back here again. So think before you choose"_ he said as they all thought for a moment.

The first to come forward was Rafael, "From what I just saw, Scott and Melissa are in good hands" he said fixing his suit. "And I have no big role to play here so I decided to go. With what memory I have now, I think Scott and the others can fill me in once they return" he said nodding to Scott and Melissa who nodded back. Sky nodded his head in understanding, _"Anyone else?"_ he asked. Victoria stood up, "I had enough of this little future show. I would like to go back now" she said. _"Didn't like what you saw?"_ Sky asked. Victoria shook her head, "I feel like it is a huge violation of privacy. So no. And Chris is still here so I have someone to fill me in as well" she said making Sky nod. Next to stand was Cora much to the surprise of the other Hale's. "It was fun. But I just saw my brother kill my uncle who killed my sister. I don't think I can watch more of my family die. I have a feeling that would come up later on" she said. _"Aren't you curious as to what happened to you?"_ Sky asked. "It wouldn't matter because the Hale fire wouldn't happen again and we can be a happy family" Cora smiled at her siblings, uncle and mother. Kira stood up next, "I have always been a 'let fate guide you' kind of person. I think I'll return back" she said. _"You do know you will be coming up soon right?"_ Sky asked. Kira nodded, "I had that feeling. But with the memories I have now, I'm sure I'll recognize the people here and can help me in. So yes I will return" she said. Deaton stood up, "I too would like to go. I have a clinic to run" he said with a smile. Sky gave him a look that said 'really?', _"That has got to be the worst reason ever. But I know why you want to leave. Never peek into your fate and all that shitty rule"_ he said in an annoyed voice. Next to stand were Erica. Sky looked at her, _"And why do you want to leave?"_ he asked. Erica looked at him nervously, "I just want to go to the bathroom. Please" the room burst into laughter and Erica blushed. Sky snorted and shook his head, _"the last door at the end of the corridor"_ he said and Erica ran out. Sky rolled his shoulders as all six wings stretched out. _"Well you all have reasons for not watching that are plain well not smart. Anyways thanks for watching. Bye"_ he said and the people standing glowed for a moment before they disappeared.

Talia stood up and walked over to Sky, "Can we talk? In private?" she asked. Sky nodded his head and flicked his hand as the others turned to stone. Talia looked at the rest in shock, "You turned them to stone!?" Sky shrugged, _"You wanted privacy. And besides I can turn them back whenever I want. SO what is it you wanted to talk about?"_ he asked. Talia rubbed her forehead and took a deep breath, "From what I could tell from what we have seen so far, the whole story is running around Scott" seeing the winged man nod, she continued "Then that would mean that he is going to have the bite anyways and from what I can also tell, it would be from Peter" she said. Sky smiled slightly, _"I see you have noticed. You are correct. Peter is going to be the one to bite him in his psychotic state"_ he said. Talia blinked, "Then that would mean that" she started, _"That the Hale house is going to burn? Yes that cannot be changed. Somethings are fixed points in time which can never be reversed. Even if you go kill Kate Argent. Maybe Chris becomes the one to burn the house or maybe even his father. Or his wife or even a different hunter"_ he explained. "Then why bring us here? From what I can tell, I would end up dead, Laura would end up dead" she asked a bit angry. Sky looked at her before looking behind her. Talia followed his gaze and saw that it ended on Derek and it clicked for her. _"I have seen him blame himself for everything that has happened to his family. I just wanted him to move on. Call it a soft spot of mine"_ Sky said. Talia looked at Sky for a moment before she smiled and kissed his cheek, "Thank you for looking out for my son" she said. Sky blushed slightly and stuttered, _"He uh is my friend. Least I could do. For all of them this is a chance to right their futures"_. Talia tilted her head and looked at the rest, "So the future is that bad huh? And how did they meet a god such as yourself?" she asked. Sky looked at her before sighing, _"I shouldn't say this but what the hell. I observed them all their life and I was the one to collect their souls in the end. While their futures weren't as bad as I make it out to be, some souls left way before their time due to some outside interference and that hurt them all as a whole. Think of it as a gift to them from me"_ he explained. Talia looked at him again, "And what is in it for you?" she asked. Sky smirked, _"I'm a big sucker for happy endings. So anything else?"_ he asked. "No thank you for your time" she said and walked back to her seat. __

Sky looked at others and flicked his hand as they all turned to normal. _"Right season 2 here we go!"_ he cheered as the screen sizzled to life and he disappeared.


	15. 2-1

**_Jackson rises from beneath the water in a pond in the woods. His shirt is ripped and he has a large bite mark on his torso._**

"Oh my god you did bite him!" Peter groaned. Derek just rolled his eyes, not gracing his uncle with a proper reply.

 ** _As Scott McCall runs on all fours through the woods, he flashes back to an earlier confrontation with Chris Argent in which he threatened the young man with a gun._**

"He pretty much saved us all and yet you put a gun at his face instead of thanking him? Come on dad!" Allison complained. "You wouldn't need saving if he wasn't around" Chris pointed out. "How can you be so sure? What if after Kate we were next in line as Alpha chow?" Allison pointed out. Chris was about to retort when is words caught in his throat and he thought about what she said, "Good point" he finally said.

 ** _Allison pleads with her father to spare him since Scott saved both their lives. She promises she will never see Scott again if he is allowed to live. We then see that Scott is running to Allison's house for a clandestine make-out session while her parents are away._**

"So much for promises" Laura said with a smirk while Allison blushed.

 ** _At Beacon Hills Hospital, Stiles Stilinski is asleep in the waiting area with a large "Get Well" smiley face Mylar balloon tied to the chair. Lydia now seems fully recovered and rises from her bed to take a shower. Her father steps out into the hall and finds out from Melissa McCall that Stiles has been at the hospital all weekend._**

"You stayed for the whole weekend?" Lydia asked in a whisper. "I guess I did" Stiles replied with a grin making Lydia blush a little.

 ** _Back at the Argent's house Scott's werewolf hearing alerts him to an SUV with squeaky right side brakes. Allison's parents have returned home. Scott hides on the ledge outside the window. Victoria Argent enters Allison's room without knocking. She senses something is up. She checks the closet and then looks out the window to the ledge but Scott has moved further up the roof._**

"Nicely done boyfriend" Allison compliments. "Why thank you girlfriend" Scott smirks.

 ** _Lydia gets in the shower and we see a viscous black liquid rising from the clogged drain. Stiles tries to buy a Reese's from the machine in the hall but the candy gets stuck. He shakes the machine until it falls over._**

"Ignoring the public property damage there, what was that thingy in the shower" Stiles asks looking at Peter. "Why you asking me?" he asks. Stiles shrugged, "You seem like the know it all type". Peter rolled his eyes, "That would be my sister" he pointed his thumb at his sister who rolled her eyes.

 ** _The bang from the hall alerts Lydia to filling tub. Once she notices, Lydia tries to remove the clog. She pulls up thick black hair but the blackened water continues to rise. She begins to panic and then a burned and blackened arm reaches from the drain and grabs her. She screams. Her father, Mrs. McCall and Stiles all rush to the bathroom. The window is open, the tub is full of clear water and Lydia is gone._**

"Weird" Stiles frowned. "Guess you guys saw a hallucination that I had. A gross one at that" Lydia said pulling a face.

 ** _Lydia screams in the woods and it echoes all over Beacon Hills. Scott, still hiding on the Argents roof, hears the scream and recognizes it as Lydia._**

"How did I hear that all the way from Allison's?" Scott asked a bit shocked. "Werewolf hearing duh" Laura said with a roll of her eyes. Talia on the other hand looked at Lydia then to Peter who met her eyes. The two nodded, seemingly coming to the same conclusion.

 ** _A little while later, Sheriff Stilinski takes statements from Lydia's father and Mrs. McCall. The sheriff sends Stiles home but he has stolen Lydia's hospital gown. Scott and Allison join Stiles. Allison says The Hunters will be looking for Lydia too. Scott gets her scent from the gown and uses his enhanced werewolf sense of smell to track her._**

"That is a bit creepy" Lydia admits. "Creepy? The two are using me as a dog!" Scott complained making the two in question laugh.

 ** _In a graveyard, Isaac Lahey is operating a backhoe to dig Kate Argent's grave._**

"I'm finally here" Isaac cheered.

 ** _Something moves in the woods and catches his attention. His backhoe is knocked over and he falls into the freshly dug grave with the backhoe blocking the hole. He then sees a fast moving shape fly overhead and, peaking over the lip of the hole sees something tearing into another grave. He then hears a canine whine and deep growl and the backhoe is lifted up off the hole and he sees Derek._**

"And totally got it handed to me by a grave robbing maniac" he sighed.

 ** _Lydia's scent brings Scott, Allison and Stiles to the Hale House. They don't find Lydia but do discover a trip wire which Stiles deploys catching Scott in a snare which leaves him hanging, upside down, in the air. Scott hears Chris Argent and two hunters approach. Stiles and Allison hide while Chris again threatens Scott hinting that he believes Lydia is a werewolf._**

"I can't believe you fell for that" Stiles groaned rubbing his face. "I'm not a werewolf" Lydia shook her head. "Time will tell" Chris said and looked back at the screen.

 ** _The next morning at the Graveyard, Sheriff Stilinski questions Isaac and his father about the events of the night before. Isaac claims he saw nothing. Isaac then tells the sheriff that someone stole the liver from one of the bodies buried in the graveyard._**

"Why would anyone steal a liver? From a dead body no less!?" Allison asked. "We need our food" Malia shrugged. "Wait that was you!?" Scott asked pointing at the screen. Malia shrugged, "No but I can relate" she said.

 ** _Later at school Stiles and Scott try to figure out where Lydia might be. Jackson arrives and harasses a homeless guy who is going through the trash._**

"I'm liking him less and less every time I see him" Laura muttered.

 ** _In Mr. Harris' chemistry class Stiles gets in trouble for talking and lands in detention. Jackson begins to leak a black viscous fluid from his nose. He rushes to the bathroom to try to stem the flow with toilet paper but it just keeps pouring out of him. Derek knocks and then breaks in the stall door. Jackson alerts the new alpha that he doesn't plan to join his pack. Black fluid starts to leak from Jackson's ears and Derek says his body is fighting the bite for unknown reasons._**

"That's the first time that happened. Normally your body either gives up or merges. Never before did it fight back" Talia said thoughtfully.

 ** _In detention, Mr. Harris tells Stiles that he will be riding him for the rest of the year because of the way he was treated in the Kate Argent investigation._**

"That is just unfair in so many ways" Stiles groaned. "Guess that guy needs to go when we go back" Noah said with a smirk looking at his son who smirked back.

 ** _At Kate's funeral, Gerard arrives and harasses a student photographer. He introduces himself to Allison who doesn't remember him._**

"Your dad is still alive?" Allison looked at Chris who nodded. "Why don't I remember him?" she asks. "You met him when you were born so it's natural" he said. "Why don't we go visit?" she asks. "Me and my dad don't get along. Kate took more after him than my mom so you can guess my hesitance" Chris explains and Allison nods.

 ** _Scott and Stiles are hiding behind a gravestone watching until they get caught and are placed in the back of a patrol car by Sheriff Stilinski. They hear scanner traffic about an attack on an ambulance. Something ripped up the patient inside._**

"Oh gross" Stiles made a face. Lydia though was scared. "What if that's me doing that?" she thought to herself.

 ** _Scott leaves to track Lydia's scent but instead finds another werewolf in the woods. Lydia comes walking out of the woods naked and asks for a coat._**

"Well on a plus note we know for sure it wasn't you" Stiles tried to cheer a very embarrassed Lydia.

 ** _The unknown werewolf gets caught in a snare and is hung up by his arms dangling from a tree limb. Scott goes to help but Derek stops him and holds him back, ordering Scott to be quiet. The hunters arrive and use a shock stick to force the werewolf into his human form. We see it is actually the homeless guy we saw at the school earlier, he claims that he has killed no one and that he came to Beacon Hills looking for the Alpha._**

"An Omega" Talia realized. "A what?" Scott looked at Talia. "An Omega. A Beta with no pack or anything. A lone wolf." She explained.

 ** _Gerard explains that this one is an Omega werewolf who was possibly kicked out of a pack or part of a pack that was hunted down and murdered. He says he might also be alone by choice. It is not a wise choice according to Gerard. The older man then takes out a sword and slices the Omega in half._**

"Oh god" Boyde said in horror. "He, he is worse than Kate ever was" Allison said in horror. Chris looked at her daughter and nodded, "He is far worse".

 ** _Derek forces Scott to watch the violence and uses it as an example of why they need to join together in a pack. Chris reminds Gerard that they have a code and Gerard says they're no longer operating by the code because of Kate's murder._**

"Basically they will now openly break their code because the one of them died doing it. Such a nice logic this one has" Peter growled.

 ** _Jackson is seen in his bedroom still leaking the black liquid from ears and nose._**

"That is just so gross" Erica pulled a face.

 ** _Isaac meets Derek in an abandoned train warehouse._**

"Huh" Isaac says. "Guess Derek is finally getting the pack he wanted" Boyde mutters. "I have a feeling Isaac won't be the only addition here" Erica tells to him.


	16. 2-2

**_Isaac and his father get into a fight over the young man's grades. It becomes violent with Mr. Lahey throwing dishes and plates around. One of the glass pitchers crashes into the wall above Isaac's head cutting his cheek._**

"Isaac!" Allison gasps. Isaac looked at her a moment before he shrugged. "Son. How often does this happen?" Noah asked the teen. Isaac shrugged again and that was all the answer the sheriff needed.

 ** _When he stands up his face begins to heal and his father is perplexed. Isaac runs away. His father follows and finds his bike out in the rain. Mr. Lahey is attacked and killed by an unknown creature._**

"I…should be sad…but" Isaac said a bit shocked from what he had just seen. Everyone looked at the teen with sympathy while Boyde clapped a hand on his shoulder.

 ** _Scott and Allison Argent have a clandestine meeting in the woods while Chris and Victoria Argent are on a "Date Night." The parents are actually busy kidnapping and torturing Beacon Hills High School's principal._**

"Now what the actual fuck dad!" Allison glared. "Language young lady!" Chris glared. "Not until you tell me why you are torturing the HUMAN principal" she snarled. Chris looked at the screen then at her, "I don't know. Maybe if we wathc, we can find out" he answered coolly.

 ** _At school the next day, Scott smells another werewolf in the locker room and attempts to figure out which of his teammates has been turned by smelling each of them on the lacrosse field. He figures out that it is Isaac just before Sheriff Stilinski arrives to inform the teen that his father is dead._**

"Welcome to the club" the werewolves cheered.

 ** _Scott and Stiles purposely get themselves in trouble so they can go to the principal's office to hear Jackson's statement to the Sheriff. Jackson confirms that Isaac was being beaten regularly by his father. Once the authorities leave they learn that Allison's grandfather, Gerard has taken the principal's place._**

"Of course he would. I should have known" Chris shook his head in disgust.

 ** _Isaac is taken to jail. Derek shows up and asks Scott to help him break him out. First though they go to Isaac's house and find evidence that his dad's abuse included locking him in a freezer chest._**

"That isn't even human" Erica said in disgust. Isaac looked at the scene with cold indifference.

 ** _Allison witnesses her father and grandfather planning to kill Isaac. She tells Stiles that one of the hunters, dressed as a deputy, left the house with a box marked with a wolfsbane plant. Allison manages to slow down the assassin by shooting his tires and his leg with arrows._**

"I am so proud of you right now" Scott whispered making Allison smile.

 ** _Derek and Stiles attempt to free Isaac but the hunter is already there. When they reach the holding cell, they find it empty. Isaac takes out the hunter then turns on Stiles until Derek growls him into submission with his alpha powers._**

"Way to go Derek" Laura cheered. "Hey! I helped too" Stiles complained. "And then almost got killed. As I said way to go Derek!" Laura said with a smirk making Stiles sulk in his seat.

 ** _Allison finds Scott in Isaac's basement. She brings chains to keep him under control during the full moon. She locks him in the freezer. As she is leaving, Allison is attacked by an unidentified human-sized lizard-like creature._**

"What the actual fuck is that..thing?" Lydia asked but no one knew the answer.

 ** _Hearing that Allison is in danger, Scott manages to bust out of the freezer and come to help her. The lizard creature escapes._**

"Relationship goals" Laura said to herself a little bit too loudly making the couple blush.

 ** _Jackson filmed himself all night long during the full moon expecting to catch his first transformation into a werewolf on video but instead got several hours of footage of himself, very much still a human, sleeping._**

"Oh thank god" Peter sighed in relief. "But it is weird as to why he didn't turn at all. I mean look at Scott. He turned the very next day. And Peter said that you either turn or you die. I wonder what happened here" Stiles said out loud making the oldest wolf think on the matter. "I don't care why it didn't happen. I'm just glad it didn't happen" Peter said sweetly.


	17. 2-3

**_Allison pulls up to a gas station, which is deserted except for a motorcycle. The rider nods to her and drives away. The lights go out and a panicked Allison gets in her car, only to find her keys missing. When she gets out of her car, someone places a bag over her head and takes her away._**

"Oh no" Allison groaned. "Don't worry, we can stop this" Scott smiled at her before looking at Chris. "You look awfully calm to see your daughter get abducted" Scott said raising an eyebrow. "I know who did this" was all Chris said.

 ** _When Allison regains her senses, she sees that both she and her father are tied up and gagged at the Hale House. A deep voice, seemingly coming from nowhere, begins asking questions:_**

 ** _"Ever wonder what happens if a hunter gets bitten?"_**

 ** _"Ever wonder what happens if you get bitten?"_**

 ** _"What do you think your father would do?"_**

 ** _"What do you think he'd have to do?"_**

 ** _"When all it would take to change everything, is one bite."_**

 ** _Chris breaks free and shows her that the voice is coming from a phone held by another hunter, the same man she saw earlier at the gas station._**

"Of course" Allison sighed. Chris shrugged, "My dad did the same thing to me".

 ** _Chris tells her that he is going to train her. He brings up arrows as a way to let her know that he knows that she shot the hunter they'd sent to deal with Isaac. She protests that they were going to kill him. Chris says those are the kind of hard choices the hunters have to make. He then informs her that the women of the Argent family are the leaders. He then hands her an arrow and tells the hunter to time her escape._**

"They are? I thought it was always a patriarchy thing" Laura said. "No it's always the women. Starting from the very first hunter in our bloodline" Chris explained

 ** _Allison uses the arrow to cut through the ropes binding her to the chair. It takes two and a half hours, which is apparently good as the hunter left to time her says it took him three._**

"See you're good at this" Scott said excitedly. Allison nodded with a smile on her face.

 ** _Allison leaves in her car and something scaly winds around the hunter's foot and slashes him on the back of the neck. He pulls out a gun, then falls down, seemingly dead. Then there's a shot of the dripping claws of the Lizard Creature._**

"Dead with such a shallow cut?" Peter frowns. "It's not the cut, it's that liquid that probably done him in. Guess you guys have a new problem in hand now" Talia said with a thoughtful look on her face.

 ** _It's climbing day in gym class. Allison and Scott scale the wall together, and he tells her he doesn't have a tail. Whatever attacked her in Isaac's house had a tail. After they talk about her butt, Allison knocks him to the mat and everyone laughs._**

"Tell me I don't grow a tail" Scott looked at Talia, a bit horrified. Talia laughed and waved her hand, "You don't grow a tail". Scott sighed in relief and then yelped from a pinch on his side, "admiring the view huh?" Allison asked with a smirk. "Well it is a nice thing to see" Scott said with a smirk.

 ** _Next, Stiles climbs the wall with Erica. As Erica hyperventilates, Allison warns the coach that she's epileptic. Erica is shaking and eventually drops back safely to the mat._**

"Yay I made it in and then shake to my glory" Erica said with a roll of her eyes. She looked down and saw everyone stare at her, "I'm fine guys. It's nothing new" she waved them off.

 ** _Back in the locker room, Jackson overhears Stiles and Scott saying new werewolf Isaac is Derek's problem. The boys are busy planning an excursion. While Stiles is keen to get a little action, Scott is nervous about Allison's grandfather and the new, mysterious creature. Suddenly, Scott's hand begins shaking. He runs to the darkened gym, where he literally catches Erica. She had attempted to scale the wall again and fell due to an epileptic seizure. Allison asks how he knew Erica was going to fall, and Scott says he felt that it was going to happen._**

"Those are some sharp senses you got there Scott. Sharper than most beta's I have encountered" Talia smiled. "Obviously. He is my beta after all" Peter puffed his chest in a show of pride as the rest laughed at him.

 ** _In the hospital, Scott's mom tells Erica she knows the girl hasn't been taking her medication. After Mrs. McCall leaves, Derek shows up in the hospital. He reads the side effects listed on her pill bottle — anxiety weight gain and acne. Derek seduces her with the promise that he can make it all go away. Derek's eyes glow red._**

"I knew it!" Stiles whooped. "That is one way to get eager parties involved" Laura said a bit unsurely.

 ** _In biology class, a film about vaccination is playing. Matt is upset about the camera he lent Jackson. Suddenly, the wannabe werewolf starts to pay attention to immunology video. After class, he chases down Lydia and accuses her of ruining his body so that he can't become a werewolf. He believes she immunized him in some way through his exposure to her._**

"That is just pure bull if I haven't seen anything else. How is it her fault!?" Stiles exclaimed with a scowl. Lydia looked at the screen with a frown of her own, "Of course he would blame me" she thought to herself.

 ** _Afterwards Lydia sobs in the bathroom when a pair of dirty unshod feet appears under the stall door. She protests that the, obviously male, feet are in the girl's room and the feet wander away. Lydia follows quickly and sees a mysterious figure looking at the trophy case. He wanders away and when she peeks at the trophies, she sees the name Peter Hale on one of the awards and then flashes back to seeing Peter coming towards her._**

"Aren't you supposed to be dead?" Laura asks with a raised eyebrow. "I am" Peter said thoughtfully.

 ** _Stiles and Boyd work out a transaction in the lunchroom. The negotiation doesn't go well, and Stiles has to give him $50 for a set of keys. As Scott and Stiles plot their evening activities, Erica walks in, looking clearly different, sexy and confident without a trace of acne or bloating. When Scott follows her outside, Erica slides into a car with Derek._**

"50$ for a set of keys?" Stiles looked at Boyd with wide eyes. He shrugged, "You can't negotiate for shit" he smirked. "Well I look different" Erica blinked a few time. "And you seem to have a boyfriend now" Isaac snickered making Erica blush and hit over the head.

 ** _Scott is having a meltdown at the animal clinic. He drops a glass jar and says it is a metaphor for his life as everything is slipping through his fingers. They have a philosophical discussion about entropy and the vet gives him a pay raise to deflect Scott's questions about werewolves._**

"Emotional breakdown aside, I should have done that from the start. I'd be getting so many raises" Scott chuckled to himself. "Do you want to talk about what we just saw?" Melissa asked her son who shook his head, "Nope".

 ** _Allison talks to her dad about Lydia while her friend sits in the room, headphones on. Though Allison says Lydia seems fine, her father is concerned about what happened to her when she was bitten and wants his daughter to keep an eye on her. What Chris Argent calls looking after a friend, Allison calls spying._**

"There is fine line between the two" Talia agrees.

 ** _Lydia, Stiles, Scott, and Allison arrive at the ice skating rink. Stiles pitches his best woo at Lydia, who pretends to miss the point. On the ice, Allison teaches Scott to skate. Evidently, werewolf super-speed and strength don't help with this sport, and Scott crashes into the wall. It turns out Lydia can spin circles around Stiles as well._**

"I mean seriously. You are far better than me in everything" Stiles sighed making Lydia giggle.

 ** _While Scott and Allison attempt to take pictures in the photo booth (the flash makes his werewolf eyes glow in the majority of the shots), Lydia finds flower petals on the ice and follows the trail to a full stalk of wolfsbane which seems to be growing out of the ice. When she wipes away the frost we see Peter Hale under the ice. She starts screaming. Allison and Scott run in to see a hysterical, hallucinating Lydia being held by Stiles with no flowers or frozen Peter in sight._**

"Okay dude would you stop it with your ghost stalking? It's getting too much" Stiles said in a groan. "What makes you say it's me and it's not just her going crazy?" Peter asked. "Well for one thing you're a pedo and you would do something like this from the afterlife" he huffs.

 ** _Scott talks to Erica to find out who Derek's next victim will be. To justify her decision to become a werewolf Erica relates the story of the time she had a seizure in class and someone videoed it and put it on the internet. The students didn't know what to do and many laughed as she flailed and eventually pissed herself. "Look at me now, Scott," she purrs, if werewolves can purr. Allison sees Erica cozying up to her boyfriend, and Scott grabs the new supernatural's wrists in anger._**

"I am so sorry" Erica apologized. "Yeah, it's okay I guess" Allison shrugged trying not to snap at her. She wrapped an arm around Scott's arm and held on tightly as a sign of possession.

 ** _It's just a normal day in the Argent household. Victoria cleans her daughter's room, she finds a love note from Scott in the pages of her geometry book. She goes to kitchen and calmly slices her arm open._**

"Allison..your mom freaks me out" Stiles shivered. "You're not alone there" Allison muttered.

 ** _As Scott's mom sews up Mrs. Argent. Mrs. Argent declines anesthetic and they chat about their offspring. Mrs. McCall notes Scott doesn't seem heartbroken after his breakup with Allison._**

"So that's her angle here" Allison furiously thought.

 ** _In the lunchroom, Allison and Scott sit back to back as to appear not to be together. Scott says Erica came up to him, and Allison says she's not jealous. She's worried about the battle lines being drawn between Derek's pack and her family. Scott says he can't pretend to be normal, to which Allison replies that she doesn't want him to be normal, but she wants him alive. Stiles arrives and points out Boyd's table is empty._**

"Well wasn't that sweet of you" Lydia coos at Allison who blushes. "Of course I'd want him alive" she muttered and nuzzled Scott's arm.

 ** _Scott tells Stiles they have to find Boyd. But Stiles is skeptical about whether he needs help. Erica looks good, after all. Scott points out a wolfsbane bullet will mess up her looks, permanently. Plus, if she gets out of control, he's responsible. Stiles says he's attracted to Scott's heroism and jokingly offers to make out with him._**

"EW ew ew ew ew ew ew" Lydia screeched, "Incest vibes" she said making the others gag. "Lydia's assessment aside, why do you feel so responsible for the things Derek's pack would do?" Allison asked. Scott thought for a moment before he shrugged, "Guess it's because I'm a wolf and I am the closest one to them than Derek in that place" he said.

 ** _Jackson visits Derek's house because he wants to know why the bite hasn't changed him. When the werewolf doesn't open his front door, Jackson breaks it down. Waiting with guns drawn are the hunters. Chris tells him not to pursue supernatural status anymore, or they'll come after him._**

"You tell him hunter" Peter whooped.

 ** _At Boyd's house, Erica finds Stiles on the front porch, flirts with him a bit, and knocks him out cold._**

"Knocking me out was one thing, but why did you have to damage my jeep!?" Stiles groaned. Erica looked at him weirdly for a moment, "Sorry?" she said unsurely.

 ** _The alarm is going off at the animal clinic. The vet sees a body on the table. A human body. Chris is waiting in the dark. He wants to know what killed the hunter and says he knows he's not just a vet._**

"You know what he is?" Boyd asked. Chris shrugged, "Not a werewolf" was all he said.

 ** _Scott finds Boyd at the rink. He says Derek told him about hunters. "I just want to not eat lunch alone every day," he says. Scott tells him that he can do better than Derek for a friend._**

"I disagree to that! Derek can be a very good friend" Laura argued.

 ** _The Alpha is in the room, as are his new minions. After an informal poll — Erica says life has been "transformative" since she met Derek, and Isaac agrees — Derek tells Scott to go home. Scott punches ice and prepares for a fight. As Boyd and Derek look on, Scott beats up the new werewolves. He shouts to them that Derek is just using them to gain power. Then he calls them guard dogs._**

"Why you little" Laura growls and charges at Scott. She picks him up by his collar and throws him at the wall. "Laura!?" Talia screamed but she heard none of it. She held up Scott by his neck, her eyes glowing yellow. Scott glared at her, his own eyes yellow and struggled to get free. Laura was about to attack when she noticed something in his eyes and dropped the beta in shock. That was enough time for Talia to get up and drag her back. She dropped her daughter in her seat while Stiles helped Scott back to his. "Why did you do that!?" Talia growled which brought her out of her shock. "He bad mouthed Derek!" she growled back and turned to the man in question, "Why aren't you mad!?" she asked. Derek looked at his older sister, "because I understand why he would say that' Derek spoke calmly. The Hales all blinked at him. "Explain" Peter said. "I promised him a way to revert him back to being a human by getting to you. I broke that promise and became an Alpha myself. So for him to see me as power hungry is pretty easy" he explained. Talia smiled at her son proudly while Laura groaned. "Since when are you the understanding one?" she asked before sinking into her chair. Derek just smirked.

While this went on, Sky watched them with an amused looked, _"I forgot about that"_ he said to himself with a chuckle.

 ** _Derek says it is about power and goes after Scott. After he makes Scott bleed, Derek steps on his chest then chokes Scott before leaving. Scott tells Boyd he shouldn't want to be like them. Boyd reveals that he has already been bitten and agrees that he doesn't want to be like Derek's pack, he says he wants to be like Scott._**

"Someone got an admirer" Allison teased making Scott blush. "Well from I just saw, I wouldn't mind being a wolf like Scott" Boyd said rubbing the back of his neck. Scott looked at him with a smile.

 ** _Stiles wakes up in a dumpster._**

"Gee thanks Erica" Stiles rolled his eyes while Erica giggled.

 ** _Scott goes to his boss to ask why his wound isn't healing. The vet says it is because the wound was inflicted by an Alpha and says he and Scott need to have a talk. Alone at night, Jackson is practicing on the lacrosse field. When his car gets stuck in the mud, he tries to push it out, only to slip into the muck. Somehow, his rage triggers something and he manages to lift up the whole back of the truck, which makes him manically happy._**

"He isn't a werewolf" Peter said slowly. "But has the strength of one" Stiles added to this. Talia looked at the scene in silence and thought about how a human could actually have strength from the bite but not be a werewolf. And then she thought about Jackson in general. The boy was very disturbed and he only wanted the bite to be better than others, not be free of his own problems. As she thought of this, the picture of a dripping claw came in her head. "What could it mean?" she thought.


	18. 2-4

**_Dr. Deaton rushes to treat Scott's wounds before the hunters return. He says he knows how to treat werewolves but doesn't know about the new creature. Deaton has just enough time to tell Scott that the Hunters will have a book listing all the creatures they've encountered._**

"Do you?" Allison asked her father. "I don't. But our family has a bestiary. It's from the first hunter and has gone down from generation to generation. Currently my dad has it" Chris explained.

 ** _Chris Argent returns to the animal clinic with Gerard. He greets Deaton by his first name "Alan" and says he thought he had retired. The Doctor says he thought the hunters operated by a code suggesting that he knows they are doing so no longer. The hunters want to know what killed one of their comrades. Dr. Deaton explains the wounds saying the scratch on his neck was to paralyze while the deep gashes on his chest and abdomen were the cause of death._**

"First paralysis and then death? Are we dealing with some venom spitting reptile here or something?" Stiles asks. "Probably something like that" Peter said with a shrug.

 ** _According to Deaton, the first scratch affected the spine by way of a paralytic toxin potent enough to disable all motor functions. He says the killing wounds were caused by claws that dug in and slashed upward, eviscerating the lungs and slicing through the bone of the rib cage with ease. Deaton tells Chris that he's never seen anything like it but he knows it's fast, remarkably strong and has the ability to render its victims helpless in seconds. He says they should be very afraid because in the natural world predators with paralytic toxins use them to catch and eat their prey and, in the case of the dead hunter, the creature didn't eat meaning whatever killed him only wanted to kill him. He believes that killing may be its only purpose._**

"That's actually very scary now that he said it out" Boyd muttered. "Reptiles just out for blood? That has never been a good thing. Ever" Talia said as a dark look took over her face.

 ** _At the Armor Tire and Service Center, a mechanic has Stiles' Jeep up on a hydraulic lift and is standing underneath working on the vehicle. Stiles argues that he is being overcharged and the unnamed mechanic threatens to charge him even more. Stiles retreats to the waiting room but there is a sticky substance on the door handle. In the waiting area he sees a picture of the mechanic in a Beacon Hills Cyclones Lacrosse uniform. Stiles then takes out his phone to text someone when his hands begin to freeze up. It is clear that his body won't do what his brain is telling it to do and he drops the phone._**

"No no no no no" Claudia said horrified. "Mom" Stiles got up from his place and ran over to his mother. He knelt in front of her and took her hands, "I'm okay mom. That hasn't happened yet" he said soothingly. Claudia gripped her son's hands tightly, "I don't want to see you get hurt" she whispered. "I will be okay mom" Stiles smiled and hugged his mother as tight as he could, a hug Claudia returned. He decided to sit beside his mom, try to calm her down.

 ** _Through the waiting room window Stiles sees the Lizard Creature crawling down the side of his jeep which is still high in the air on the hydraulic lift. He tries to shout a warning but can't achieve much volume. He watches as the creature scratches the mechanic on the back of the neck. Stiles tries to move but falls to the floor paralyzed. The mechanic also falls to the garage floor, and after the creature slices through the hydraulic line, Stiles' jeep begins to slowly descend on top him. Stiles manages to dial 911 but can do nothing else except watch as the mechanic cries for help and then is crushed to death. The creature comes up to the glass door of the waiting area and hisses at him._**

"It didn't attack Stiles" Talia said, surprise evident in her voice. "Why do you sound so surprised!? We should be thankful it didn't!" Claudia exclaimed clutching her son's hands tighter. "It's not that. The creature only went for the mechanic and just left your son. Which would suggest it does have a mind behind his actions and is not just out killing for fun" Talia explained. "So you mean that the lizard thingy has a hit list or something?" Stiles asked making Talia nod. "I wonder what the reason could be" Peter mumbled.

 ** _At 8:55 PM Allison gets into her car, she breathes fog on to the window and "9 PM" becomes visible on the window. She looks down at the clock and when she looks back up her grandfather is standing outside the car. Gerard wants to talk._**

"Creep" Allison mutters.

 ** _At the same time Scott is waiting in the woods for Allison. He looks at his phone and the time is 09:00 pm. Back at Allison's, Gerard reaches in his jacket pocket and a leather bound book drops to the ground. Allison retrieves it and he says he would be lost without it. The old man then takes a handful of pills saying he takes a cocktail of pharmaceuticals three times a day. He then launches into a speech about how Allison must trust her family. He defends Kate's actions and says Allison reminds him of her. He predicts that Allison will be placed in a situation where she will have to question the trust of even her closest friends and that the trust you never question is family. He then asks if he can trust her. He is unhappy with her quiet "yeah" response and shouts at her to speak with conviction "Yes or No" to which she responds "Yes."_**

"Okay oldie there needs to be kept in line before he gets a new one ripped into him" Peter growled. "Easier said than done. But why do you care what he does with my daughter?" Chris asked, his tone filled with curiosity. "It's not the part of your daughter. It's the part where he defends his daughter for the slaughter of innocent lives" Peter explains.

 ** _At the garage, Stiles lies to his father, Sheriff Stilinski about what happened to the mechanic saying he walked in and found him under the jeep. His father presses him asking if Stiles saw someone do it and if he is afraid that they will retaliate against him if he tells. Stiles lies again saying he didn't see anything at all. His father says they're impounding the jeep as evidence and Stiles asks him to make sure they wash the mechanic off it before they return it to him._**

"You shouldn't have lied like that. You should have told me" Noah said looking at his son. "If I did, would you have believed me? And from my words I'm sure half your force would arrest me for murder" Stiles said with a roll of his eyes. "Fair point" Noah agrees after a thought.

 ** _In the woods, Allison arrives for her rendezvous with Scott but instead finds a note etched in chalk on a rock, "COULDNT WAIT MISSED U." At the garage, Scott arrives to pick up Stiles. Stiles explains that the creature isn't like Scott. That its eyes are reptilian. He says the creature seemed familiar like someone you know wearing a Halloween mask._**

"Now that's an interesting deduction Mr. Stilinski" Talia said with a smile. "Uh, thanks?" Stiles said not so sure of his reply.

 ** _The next day at Derek's lair, Isaac runs and attacks Derek who fends him off easily. The attack is repeated as Boyd sits on the stairs watching. Then Erica tries to jump Derek and is dispatched easily. Derek asks them for something unpredictable and Erica jumps up, straddles him and kisses him passionately on the mouth._**

"Ew" Erica shuddered. "The bite messed my head up bad" she muttered while Derek looked very uncomfortable.

 ** _Derek scolds her telling her to never do it again because he has someone else in mind for her. When Isaac complains about his injuries, Derek breaks his arm. He explains that he is not teaching the young betas how to fight. He is teaching them how to survive. Derek says the hunters are planning something and they have to beware the new creature too so he is trying to teach them everything he knows quickly._**

"As good as that sounds, I don't think roughing them up is the best way to teach them" Talia said. Derek said nothing but a simple nod from him showed that he agreed.

 ** _Lydia's mother comes in to wake her explaining that she will be late for her counseling session at school. Lydia hides under the covers saying she doesn't want to go. Her mom pulls back the duvet and finds it covered with blood. Lydia's hands are covered with cuts and they look up to find a mirror on a dresser smashed. Lydia doesn't seem to remember smashing the mirror._**

"I did that?" Lydia muttered. "Something is up with you there Lydia. Something big" Laura said looking at the scared teen. She got up and took the seat beside Lydia and tried comforting her. Something Stiles was thankful for.

 ** _At school, Lydia hides the cuts on her hands with some pink gloves. She's sat in a waiting area with an unidentified male student who tries to strike up a conversation with her about why they are both at the councilors, she shuts him down saying she has an acute phobia of people prying into her personal life. He calls her cute but narcissistic._**

"Right so now a stranger judges me. Great, just great" Lydia groaned.

 ** _In the hallway, Stiles seems to be pouring his heart out to Scott. He says how sorry he is and how he's trying and how they will get through this and that he knows they will because he loves Scott. Then he breaks down, apparently the entire exchange was a message from Allison that Stiles was supposed to relay to Scott. He says he can't play messenger between them anymore. Scott says he must continue as he is the only one that both of them can trust._**

"Aw guys! I love you two too" He smiled at the couple who tried not to laugh at him.

 ** _Scott then explains what Dr. Deaton told him about the hunter's book of creatures. Stiles supplies a name for the book calling it a bestiary which Scott confuses with bestiality._**

"I swear Scott, you really need to get your words right" Melissa said with a roll of her eyes.

 ** _In the Guidance Councilor's office, Lydia questions Ms. Morrell's nationality and qualifications. She is French-Canadian and has Masters in Behavioral Psychology and has done over 300 hours of field work. Lydia says her friends have been supportive about her injuries and other recent experiences and that she trusts them implicitly. She then quotes Peter pointing out that sometimes the people closest to you can be the ones holding you back the most. When questioned about the statement, Lydia she doesn't know where it came from. She says maybe she heard it somewhere._**

"Hey I did say that at some point last season maybe?" Peter said unsurely. "But why do I say it? Not like I was there to hear you say it or something" Lydia asked with a frown.

 ** _In the Cyclone's locker room, Jackson gives Danny the memory card from Matt's camera and asks him to increase the resolution on it. When Jackson explains that it is video of him in bed Danny reminds him that he isn't his type. Jackson quips back that he's everyone's type._**

"I smell something here" Erica said with a smirk. "Oh he is definitely a both way swinger" Lydia snorts.

 ** _Stiles then runs back and forth between Allison and Scott trying to plan how best to find Gerard's Bestiary. Allison says it's likely in his office. Then, to an exhausted Stiles, she explains that her parents check every call, text message and email she sends so he must continue to play messenger._**

"Sorry" Allison apologizes, pulling the word out. "Nest time use doves or pigeon" Stiles huffed good naturedly.

 ** _At the lacrosse game, Danny shows up with Matt in tow. He's asked the camera's owner to look over the footage and while Jackson is angry at first he becomes excited when they explain that about 2 hours of footage has been edited out of the camera's memory. This means that for two hours there is no record of what Jackson was doing on the night of the last full moon._**

"Well that's ominous" Laura muttered.

 ** _During the game BHHS players are getting pounded by a huge, burly player named Eddie Abramowitz. Stiles says his nickname is "The Abomination." Jackson urges Scott to wolf out and take Abramowitz down but Scott says he can't since Gerard is sitting in the stands watching. Allison fakes being cold to get Gerard's coat and finds the keys to his office in his pocket. She passes them to Stiles who leaves the game._**

"Nice pickpocket skills you have there" Stiles smirked at Allison who smiled at him.

 ** _As another wounded player is removed on a stretcher, Matt returns with his Cannon camera in hand. He asks Melissa McCall if the injured student is hers. She says her is still on the field but she wishes he would have stuck with Tennis. She asks him if he is with the yearbook. He says no he just takes pictures and we see that he's taken an extreme close up shot of Allison._**

"Okay stalker alert. Allison has a stalker. What will you do now Scott?" Lydia asked with a smirk on her face then burst out laughing when Scott started flail like a fish on land.

 ** _On his way to Gerard's office, Stiles sees Lydia sitting in her car crying. He tries to comfort her by saying she looks very beautiful when she cries. He then remembers his mission and promises to return._**

"That is not how you impress a girl. And more importantly, do not leave a crying girl alone like that!" his mother chastised making the boy blush. "Mom" he hissed trying to get her to stop.

 ** _On the field, Coach Finstock finds himself one player short due to injuries. He turns to the crowd and spies Boyd sitting with Erica. She protests that Derek won't like him getting involved but Boyd wants to play and joins the team._**

"Welcome to team I guess?" Stiles says unsurely making Boyd snort.

 ** _In Gerard's office, Stiles finds nothing but is then surprised by Erica. In the game, Boyd is tearing up the field. He knocks Abramowitz on his ass and then his eyes wolf out._**

"Well that can't be good" Boyd muttered under his breath.

 ** _Erica drags Stiles by the ear to the school swimming pool. Derek is waiting and demands to know what Stiles knows about the creature. Stiles lies and says he saw nothing._**

"Stop with the physical abuse already!" Stiles scowled at Erica who smiled sheepishly.

 ** _Scott tells Boyd he has to get off the field due to his eyes but Boyd refuses. Scott scores on the next play but breaks his leg in the process. Everyone rushes on to the field expecting to find Scott with a broken leg but his werewolf healing kicks in and he is on his feet quickly. Gerard is among those who heard the leg break._**

"Yer a target Scotty" Stiles said in a somewhat gruff voice making Erica burst into laughter.

 ** _After a threat from Derek, Stiles describes what he saw at the garage and as he does the creature begins to crawl down the wall behind him. It knocks Erica into a wall and she is out cold._**

"Seriously!?" Erica groaned.

 ** _Derek turns to tell Stiles to run and the creature scratches his neck. Stiles then helps Derek limp away. With the creature close behind Stiles drops his phone and let's go of Derek to retrieve it. Before he can, Derek falls in the pool and Stiles jumps in after. Stiles holds a now paralyzed Derek afloat while the creature stalks around the edge of the pool._**

"Thanks" Derek grunted. Stiles blinked a few times before he broke into a big grin, "Awe is little Derek finally being nice?" he teased. "Don't push it" he glared making Stiles sit up straight.

 ** _Chris and Victoria are preparing for dinner when Gerard and Allison show up with Scott in tow. They are both speechless. The dinner is punctuated by long awkward silences broken only by Gerard's seemingly naive questions about why Scott and Allison broke up. This leads to a discussion of passionate love, Romeo and Juliet and ritual suicide. Later, in the kitchen, Chris pins Scott to the fridge and warns him about what would happen is Gerard figures out that he is a werewolf._**

"Do you have to be so rough?" Allison asked her father and sighed when she saw him shrug.

 ** _It seems Derek and Stiles are safe as long as they stay in the pool. The creature stuck its claw in and jumped back as if it had been burned. Scott and Allison excuse themselves from dinner and start searching Gerard's room for the bestiary. They find a safe with a combination lock and Scott uses his enhanced werewolf hearing to work out the combination. Inside they find the leather bound book Allison saw earlier but it turns out to be a cookbook._**

"I did not expect that of all things" Chris muttered.

 ** _After holding up Derek in the pool for two hours, Stiles drops him and dashes for his phone. He gets it just ahead of the creatures claws and manages to call Scott. The phone ringing causes Allison to fear that they will be caught in Gerard's room. Scott answers the phone and almost instantly hangs up not realizing that his friend is in danger. Realizing that the bestiary may be in digital form, Allison remembers the flash drive on Gerard's key ring. Scott races back to the school and hears the creatures roar._**

"Talk about a troke of luck for you two" Laura said looking at Stiles and Derek.

 ** _Stiles retrieves Derek from the bottom of the pool and exhausted makes for one of the handles near a diving platform. His hand is slipping but then both he and Derek are grabbed and lifted out of the pool. Scott, completely wolfed out, is on the diving platform and lets out a tremendous growl. The werewolf and the lizard creature fight and it seems the new beast has the upper claw until Scott grabs a piece of broken mirror and the creature catches sight of its reflection. This seems to confuse and frighten it and it runs away._**

"Afraid of its own look? Odd for a predator" Talia frowned.

 ** _In the parking lot, Stiles and Scott boot up the bestiary flash drive but it is in a language that it doesn't recognize. Derek says the creature is a Kanima. He figured it out when it was confused by it's own reflection. Derek says it doesn't know what or who it is. He says it is a shapeshifter like werewolves but that it's not right. Stiles suggests the word 'abomination'. Scott urges Derek to work with him to fight the creature suggesting that also enlists the Argent's aid to combat it. Derek swears he will find it and kill it._**

"Derek just take his offer damnit" Laura groaned. Stiles though was looking at Talia, "You know about Kanimas?" he asked. "I have only read about them. Never saw one before" she explained.

 ** _Scott arrives at the hospital to pick up his mom from work. Gerard surprises him and sticks a big knife in his gut. He twists the blade and claims he was only playing the part of a doddering old grandfather but that he actually knows the score. He then threatens to kill Scott's mother if the boy doesn't agree to do a favor for him._**

"I fucking hate that creepy old man" Allison growls.


	19. 2-5

**_Jackson tries to bench press way too much weight with Danny as a spotter. He can't lift it. Danny hits the showers and, for just a moment, Jackson's hearing is enhanced to preternatural levels. Erica shows up and takes Jackson to a waiting Derek in the lair._**

"What do you want with Jackson?" Isaac asked. Derek just shrugged.

 ** _Derek wants to know what happened to Jackson on the full moon. He says nothing happened and offers to show him the tape. Derek doesn't believe him and feeds him kanima venom as a test saying a snake isn't bothered by its own venom. Jackson is paralyzed meaning he is no longer a suspect._**

"So you did suspect him" Peter said. "Well with that guy out of the question, we now have a few thousand more people to go through" Stiles said with an eye roll.

 ** _Isaac forces Jackson to retract his statement to the Sheriff about the fight the night his father died. Without Jackson's eyewitness testimony, the case against Isaac is dismissed and he can return to school._**

"Good use of your powers there man" Boyd smirked at a grinning Isaac.

 ** _At school, Stiles reports that his research on the kanima shows that it's some type of werejaguar from South America that goes after murderers. This does not fit with what they know of the creature. Jackson's hearing is enhanced again and he overhears Erica and Isaac talking about the kanima. They're talking about testing with the venom during chemistry class. Isaac seems to really want to kill Lydia but Erica says they have to test her first._**

"Okay now wait one minute" Stiles said standing up. "Lydia can't be the kanima!" he exclaimed. "How can you be sure?" Peter asked with a raised eyebrow. Stiles looked at him and slowly smiled, "The lizard thing was taller than her. A transformation won't increase height. Plus it had no womanly figure to it. It was more man like" he explained. The crowd thought on this as Stiles sat down. Scott leaned forward and whispered to Stiles, "You wanted to say it did not have any boobs, didn't you" he asked with a smirk. Stiles snorted but said nothing else.

 ** _Coach Finstock warns his economics class about their impending mid-term, recommending that they form a study group to prepare. Jackson tells Scott and Stiles the story of Derek's earlier test of him and the conversation he overheard in the hall. Stiles says the kanima can't be Lydia because he looked into its eyes and saw pure evil and when he looks into Lydia's eyes he sees a much lower percentage of evil._**

"So you see evil in my eyes huh?" Lydia asked with a scowl. "A much lower percentage" Stiles explained. The strawberry blonde merely huffed at him.

 ** _Also in economics, Lydia has another hallucination. She sees Peter Hale at the chalkboard writing out equations in a spiral pattern. Peter then turns and walks toward her cornering her at the back of the class. He then crushes the chalk and blows the dust into her face. When she comes to her senses she is at the blackboard where she has written "Someone Help Me" backwards several times. The weird guy who hit on her outside the counselor's office is sitting at the front of the class and laughs with the other students._**

"I bet the weird guy is behind all this" Scott said. "What makes you so sure?" Noah asks. Scott shrugged, "This 'season' has shown a lot of him" he explained and room laughed. Up in the observatory, Sky snorted his drink out his nose in surprise.

 ** _In chemistry class Scott, Stiles and Allison try to keep Erica and Isaac away from Lydia. Mr. Harris quotes Albert Einstein about the universe and human stupidity both being infinite. He then decides that for the class assignment everyone will switch lab partners at each step. This leads to a game of musical chairs which allows Erica to flirt with Scott._**

"Oh my God" Erica groans.

 ** _Threaten Allison (with extended claws on her thigh)._**

"OH MY GOD" she shouts

 ** _Isaac relates to Stiles a story of Lydia rejecting him when he asked her out during freshman year. He really wants to kill her. Isaac makes it to Lydia's lab table and the experiment is complete leaving the pair with a large rock candy crystal. Mr. Harris encourages them to eat it. Scott and Stiles can see the kanima venom dripping from it just before Lydia puts it in her mouth. Nothing happens to her suggesting that she is the kanima._**

"She is the kanima!" Peter exclaimed but Stiles still did not believe it. "Call it a gut feeling" he explained when they all looked at him confused.

 ** _Scott, Allison and Stiles brainstorm on how to protect Lydia from Derek who is waiting for her in the school parking lot. They settle on trying to convince him that she's not the creature but say they're prepared to fight if necessary._**

"Finally some werewolf on werewolf action" Laura grinned but then glared at her snickering uncle. "Not like that you pedophile" she grinned when Peter started working his jaw in shock.

 ** _In Ms. Morrell's office, the counselor shows Lydia a Rorschach inkblot test. In each image, Lydia claims to see a butterfly even though she sees one as a badly burned Peter Hale._**

"Why am I seeing you?" Lydia asked. "Maybe you fell for my manly charms" he smirked then scowled when Talia snorted.

 ** _Matt and Danny meet with Jackson in the library and question him about who might have had access to his house on the full moon. They're trying to figure out who could have removed the two hours from his video. Danny says he could have because the kitchen door is often unlocked. Matt says he could have done the editing since it was his camera. He then suggests he and Danny could have done it together, which Danny picks up on as flirting. They then ask if anyone else could get into his house and he realizes Lydia has a key._**

"So pretty much I'm the main culprit. In everything that's happening" Lydia rolled her eyes.

 ** _Allison asks Ms. Morrell to translate a page from the bestiary. She says the language is archaic and she is unsure of the words. "Like the wolf, its power is greatest at the moon's peak. Like the wolf, the kanima is a social creature but where the wolf seeks a pack the kanima seeks a friend."_**

"Aw it's a lonely little lizard" Erica cooed.

 ** _Scott goes looking for Derek but finds Boyd instead. Scott says he doesn't want to fight which Boyd says is good because of their size difference. Boyd may be bigger but Scott is faster and knocks the big kid on the ground. Derek appears and Scott tries to convince him to leave Lydia alone._**

"Well so much for my well-built body structure" Boyd rolled his eyes.

 ** _Derek implies that Isaac and Erica are on the way to kill her. When Scott tries to rush to her aid, Boyd knocks him on his ass. Derek believes that, because she was bitten by an Alpha, Lydia has to be the kanima. He says the creature is like the werewolves because they are all shapeshifters. He goes on to explain that very rarely an Alpha bite will transform a person into a shape that reflects that person's true self._**

"So you saying I'm a snake on the inside?" Lydia glared at a very uncomfortable Derek.

 ** _Scott says Lydia may be immune but Derek's not buying it. He says he's never seen it or heard of someone being immune to the bite but Scott reminds him that Jackson's body did reject the transformation. Scott realizes that Derek bit Jackson, hoping he would die but nothing happened. Scott also realizes that Derek doesn't know why nothing happened. Scott believes Lydia is immune and passed it on to Jackson._**

"So gave him the bite hoping he would die? Geez little brother, now I can understand why they all blame shit on you" Laura rolled her eyes.

 ** _In the library, Danny is waiting for the newly restored video to render while Matt flips through pictures on his AT &T Tablet. Every picture of Scott has a weird lens flare due to his eyes._**

"I wonder if he knows" Stiles thought out loud.

 ** _Stiles, Allison and Jackson rush to get Lydia out of the school. They go to Scott's house and lock themselves inside. Scott is heading to meet them when Coach Finstock stops him to talk about damage to Danny's lacrosse gear. As Co-Captain, it's apparently Scott's responsibility to take care of Danny's equipment. When Scott asks him about the damage, Danny reminds him that he played goalie in the last game and he'd lent the equipment to someone else. Matt snaps another picture of Scott and once again gets the telltale werewolf eye lens flare._**

"Oh he definitely knows. I'm sure now" Stiles said with a frown.

 ** _Allison calls Scott and tells him to get home because Derek, Erica, Boyd, and Isaac are waiting outside. In the library, Jackson's video has rendered up to 03:27:00. We see him on the night of the full moon sit up in bed and turn to face the lens. His eyes glow dully._**

"Well I'll be damned" Peter mumbled as the others looked at the screen in shock.

 ** _Allison considers calling her father to help them but Stiles talks her out of it. They decide to shoot Derek or one of his pack and realize Isaac is missing._**

"You WILL not shoot me or my pack" Derek suddenly growled out making Allison and Stiles shivers at his voice and nod nervously.

 ** _In Scott's bedroom, Jackson asks Lydia to return his key accusing her of coming into his house on the full moon and altering the video. She pleads innocence and returns his key which she has kept on a chain around her neck. Then she breaks down and claims to hate him but he knows better. As they kiss, Lydia pulls down the collar of his sweater and reveals his skin changing into kanima scales._**

"You really care for him don't you?" Laura asked the girl beside her gently. She said nothing but fiddled with the key around her neck.

 ** _Issac has come in through the back of the house. He attacks Allison and Stiles. Lydia hears a crash from the fight and leaves the bedroom to investigate. As she does, Jackson falls to his knees as the kanima transformation takes him. In the hallway, Lydia hears growls and Allison tells her that someone is trying to break in. She says Lydia needs to go back in the bedroom with Jackson. She returns to find Jackson gone and the window open. Lydia locks herself in the bathroom and calls the police._**

"That wasn't a good call" Peter said. "Well excuse me for being a scared girl who knows nothing about what's happening!" she snaps at the older male.

 ** _Allison comes into Scott's room and locks the door. She then notices kanima venom dripping from the window frame. Erica busts in and threatens to steal Scott away from her. Allison then shoots her with a crossbow. Erica catches the small arrow easily but we see that Allison has treated it with the venom and Erica is soon paralyzed._**

"Nice shot!" Erica cheered. "She just paralyzed you did you notice that?" Boyd pointed out. Erica shrugged, "I don't like that version of me. Too much of a bitch" she smiled.

 ** _Outside Boyd and Derek hear the noise from the fight and then Erica and Isaac come flying out the door and land on the lawn. Isaac is unconscious. Erica is still paralyzed. Scott, Stiles and Allison stand on the porch triumphant and Derek realizes that Scott isn't an Omega werewolf because he is already an Alpha of his own pack._**

"Well he isn't wrong. You're little friend circle is kind of like a pack. A very diverse pack" Chris said with an unknown emotion in his voice.

 ** _We hear sirens in the distance and the kanima hisses on the rooftop. They all look up and see the creature scamper off the roof and into the trees. Lydia comes out of the house confused and Scott realizes that the kanima is Jackson. On a deserted street the camera pans up to the back bumper of a VW Jetta with a sticker that reads "Imagination is more important than Knowledge – Einstein" Jackson Kanima creeps up to the car and places his hand on the window, a gloved hand reaches out from within to touch the glass barrier between them. Then Jackson scampers off into the woods and the car peels away._**

"Whoever was in the car is probably in control of Jackson then" Peter said. "Wait if Jackson is the kanima, why does he not remember his transformation?" Lydia asked. "Well his transformation isn't really a pure on" Talia starts. "It's more like he has two thoughts than one. The kanima is a thing of its own and the one who becomes one has close to no control over it. Reason why Jackson remembers nothing. Maybe he blacks out" she finished with a shrug. Lydia nodded a little and leaned back in her chair and played with the key around her neck.


	20. 2-6

**_Danny completes the restoration of Jackson's full moon video. On the tape Jackson rises up in bed and turns toward the camera his eyes glowing. His body then convulses and the tape skips to a shot of Jackson next to the lens in mid transformation. Danny composes a text to Jackson saying he's finished the video work but hasn't watched the footage. He then places his Tablet into the hatchback of his car._**

"Danny is such a good friend" Scott smiled. "Oh yeah? What am I? Chopped liver?" Stiles complains.

 ** _Allison drops Lydia off at home and urges her to stay quiet despite Lydia's repeated questions about the night's events. Allison tries to make her understand how much she loves Scott but Lydia says she has not experienced the same type of relationships._**

"I guess not" Lydia mumbles fiddling with the key around her neck.

 ** _In an industrial area of Beacon Hills, Derek faces off against Jackson kanima. Derek lands some blows but mainly just tries to stay clear of the creatures claws. Chris Argent shows up and fires several bullets into the kanima's chest. It appears to be down but recovers almost instantly and kicks Argent into a concrete bridge support. The kanima then crawls over to Gerard where it appears to pause and simply stare up at the old man. Scott leaps into frame knocking the kanima away._**

"Is it just me or is Gerard giving the whole villain vibe there?" Erica asked. Chris shook his head, "Gerard won't do that to human's. He might kill werewolves and stuff but not humans" he said with some confidence.

 ** _Scott's search for the creature leads him to a nightclub called Jungle. Stiles catches up and the two discuss why Jackson was paralyzed by the venom test if he is the kanima. Stiles speculates that the venom might not work when he's in kanima form but does work when Jackson is in human form. Stiles spots the kanima crawling into one of the upper floors of Jungle. Scott then spots Danny in line and smells his Armani cologne. He figures out that Danny is the creature's next target._**

"You remembered the cologne? My my Mr. McCall hiding something here are we?" Allison teased. Scott flapped his jaws like a fish before he resorted to scowling as the rest laughed.

 ** _Scott breaks the doorknob off the back entrance of the club. They quickly realize that everyone in the club is a dude and that Jungle is a gay club. Stiles finds himself surrounded by drag queens as hundreds of young men dance to a pumping rhythm._**

"Look at you having fun" Erica jokes. Stiles said nothing but shivered every time a drag queen went close to him, too close for his comfort.

 ** _Danny is at the bar looking somewhat dejected. He stares over at a couple of men dancing together. It is the boy Danny took to the dance in Formality. The bartender says Danny is better off without him and suggests he go dance with another boy who is giving Danny the eye._**

"Yeah he definitely deserves better than that dude" Stiles agrees. "Oh? Is someone interested?" Erica teased. "Would you stop" Stiles scowled at her.

 ** _Stiles tries to order two beers but the bartender looks at their IDs and offers them cokes instead. A guy across the bar pays for Scott's drink and gives him a nod and a smile. Stiles is insanely jealous of this attention. Scott enjoys the flattery. They see Danny dancing and get back to business. Jackson Kanima is hanging upside down over the dance floor._**

"If he wasn't as creepy as he looks, I would call him batman right now" Stiles mumbled with a snort.

 ** _Lydia is outside in back of her house. She lets her little dog, Prada, out to poop but the dog doesn't come back and she walks further into the yard. We see a shadow on the wall and that weird kid from school that seems to be stalking Lydia comes around the corner holding Prada._**

"Stranger danger Lydia! Have your parents not told you that?" Allison asked mocking shock on her face. Lydia scowled and flipped her off.

 ** _Back in the club, Scott sends Stiles to get Danny while Scott goes after the kanima. Unfortunately, with the smoke and the lights and the crowded dance floor, Stiles can't get to Danny and Scott loses sight of the kanima. The creature attacks and several dancers fall to the floor paralyzed. Danny is among them. Then it's all chaos as Derek shows up all wolfed out and uses his claws to slash the kanima's throat. The creature retreats outside where Scott finds a blood trail that leads to Danny's car. There he finds Jackson back in human form and covered in blood._**

"Go Derek!" Laura cheered.

 ** _Lydia and her stalker are standing on her porch as she asks him if there is a non-rapist reason for him being at her house in the middle of the night. He claims to live nearby and says he heard the dog barking. He steps closer and she steps back. He says maybe he wants to kiss her and she says maybe she doesn't want him too._**

"Such a fucking creep" Allison mutters and the ladies agree with her.

 ** _He pursues the question further and she playfully says she'll punch him in the throat. He then plucks what appears to be a wolfsbane flower from an ivy vine that is growing up the side of Lydia's house. He gives the flower to Lydia saying he wants her to keep it with her or he'll be really hurt._**

"Of all flowers? This is not normal at all" Laura mutters.

 ** _Back at Jungle, a paralyzed Danny is being rolled out on a stretcher. Scott tries to question him about any weird events that might have happened to him that put the kanima on his trail. Danny doesn't answer. When Scott asks him if he's okay, Danny asks if his ex-boyfriend is also paralyzed. Scott says he is and Danny smiles says "then I'm great."_**

"I love this dude" Peter laughed.

 ** _Scott and Stiles have Jackson in the back of Stiles' jeep they attempt to leave before one of the deputies spots him but Sheriff Stilinski shows up and blocks his car. Stiles' father questions him about his presence at yet another crime scene that also happens to be a gay bar. By way of excuse, Stiles implies that he is gay saying he and his father need to have a conversation. The sheriff laughs this off saying Stiles is most assuredly not gay and offering his choice in clothing as proof of his not gayness._**

"Hey! I assure you gay people dress just like me" Stiles argued starting off another round of laughter.

 ** _The conversation then turns serious as the Sheriff confronts his son about all the recent lies he's been spouting. He demands the truth but Stiles again lies claiming he and Scott were at the club with Danny offering support for their friend after his recent breakup. The sheriff buys this explanation._**

"See now that is a better bluff" Noah points out.

 ** _In the Jeep, Jackson begins to come around and Scott punches him in the face knocking him unconscious once more._**

"Ouch!" everyone but Scott winces.

 ** _Near the club, Chris Argent returns to his SUV and briefs Gerard on the events inside Jungle. Seven were paralyzed and the authorities suspect it was drugs. This belief is bolstered by the eyewitness reports of a demonic monster on the dance floor. Chris questions Gerard's actions earlier in the night when he just stood there as the kanima circled him. Gerard claims it was intuition that he thinks he knows what it is and that it plays by certain rules that don't bend easily. He then swallows a handful of pills. Chris wonders if they should put a hold on Derek until they get the new creature situation figured out. Gerard says the best way to eliminate a threat is to get someone to do it for you. He views the kanima and Derek's interest in it as an opportunity._**

"I hate to admit it but that is a sound plan" Peter agreed grudgingly.

 ** _Jackson awakes in a metal room and bumps his head. He is chained and shackled to the floor. Outside we see that the metal room is the inside of a Beacon County Sheriff's Department prisoner transport van. Stiles and Scott have parked it in the woods and can hear Jackson as he threatens them from inside the van._**

"That's a nice place but you know that won't hold him" Talia pointed out.

 ** _Later, Stiles brings Jackson sandwiches and relates some information about the kanima attacks. his plan to fool Jackson's parents as to his whereabouts fails when he signs the text "I love you." According to his father, Jackson hasn't said "I love you" since they told him he was adopted 11 years ago. The sheriff begins searching for him._**

"Who doesn't send an 'I love you' to their parents!?" Stiles asks shocked. "Apparently the asshole adopted ones" Peter points out.

 ** _In Gerard's office at school, Allison is questioned by her grandfather. He wants to know where she was during the kanima attacks of the night before. She claims she was studying with Lydia. He quotes Sun Tzu's The Art of War and says the hunters are trying to know their new enemy. He says he doesn't believe her because he thinks she is protecting her friends. He gets behind her chair and places two fingers on her carotid artery to feel her pulse as he questions her._**

"He can do that?" Allison asked, shocked seeing her father nod.

 ** _She lies about Jackson and Scott's involvement. He says her pulse jumped. She says he scared her and he apologizes. On her way back to class, Allison notes a number of new surveillance cameras have been installed all over the school. In English class, Allison's mom shows up and says their teacher is out and she will be substituting._**

"This cannot get any worse" Allison groaned into her hands.

 ** _Back in the woods, Stiles explains what Jackson supposedly did as the kanima. Jackson claims he remembers none of it. He says he went home after the game while the kanima was menacing Stiles and Derek at the pool. Allison's mom says they've noticed quite a few calls to "the odd one…Stilinski."_**

"I am not the odd one!" Stiles exclaimed. "Stiles" Scott started, "you are the odd one" he finished making Stiles sulk. "But that's what makes you, you" he added with a smile making Stiles snort.

 ** _Allison says she is in contact with him because she's trying to keep an eye on Lydia as her father asked and that Stiles is obsessed with her. Her mother then offers sympathy about Scott and Allison's relationship saying she understands how hard it must be to be with him in class and not be able to look at him. She sees Allison's suffering as a sign of strength. She says as long as Allison stays strong they won't have to kill Scott._**

"Threatening your own daughter?" Talia said in disgust. Chris shook his head, he never liked this side of his wife. She was a kind woman when she can be. But is extra hard on their daughter because she is the future of their line.

 ** _Stiles is still texting Jackson's parents. Allison shows up and says they know Jackson's missing. Stiles realizes they're tracking the phone and turns on the scanner. Officers report they are converging on their location. Stiles dumps the phone and moves the van._**

"Well at least they moved" Boyd shrugged.

 ** _Scott questions Danny in the hospital. Wondering why Jackson would be mad at him. Danny explains that he was doing a favor for him fixing the video. Danny is reluctant to tell Scott about the video but Scott promises to get Danny's fake ID back from the cops if he tells._**

"A trade? My my Scott you are changing" Melissa smirks at her son who looked anywhere but her.

 ** _Scott's mom stops him in the hospital hallway and says Gerard called her and that Scott is failing two classes. She's worried he'll be held back a year. Scott promises to do better._**

"Two classes? Come on Scott!" Melissa groans. "I promise to do better than well in the future" Stiles shrugged with a smile.

 ** _Scott, Allison and Stiles are in the woods overlooking Beacon Hills. They discuss the kanima and its motives. Scott questions if the creature was actually trying to kill them since it ran right past Allison at Isaac's house, didn't kill Stiles at the garage and might have been just trying to keep Derek and Stiles in the pool. Scott says there is something else going on that none of them understands._**

"Guess future me has something on his mind" Scott smiled.

 ** _Stiles says the solution is to kill Jackson. Scott disagrees reminding him about Jackson's role in taking down Peter Hale. Stiles believes Jackson only helped to get Derek to bite him. Scott defends Jackson saying he doesn't know what he's doing just like Scott didn't when he first began to turn. Scott says he had Derek to keep him from killing, Jackson has nobody and Scott wants to try to save him. Jackson overhears the conversation and begins to cry._**

"Well someone got through to our asshole friend here" Peter smiled at the screen.

 ** _Jackson begins to transform. A blue sheen creeps across his hands creating the distinctive kanima scale pattern. Allison declares her love for Scott and they make out in her car listening to Pandora while Jackson goes through a transformation in the van. He breaks free of his restraints. Stiles shows up and knocks on the car window to alert Scott and Allison that Jackson has escaped._**

"You guys are the worst guards in history" Stiles groaned making the young couple blush.

 ** _Allison and Stiles decide they both should tell their fathers about what's going on. Scott offers to show his werewolf side to the Sheriff to help him understand and believe but when they arrive at the Sheriff's office Jackson is there with his father, David Whittemore, an attorney._**

"He wouldn't" Lydia gasped.

 ** _Lydia is waiting for Allison at her house when she gets home. She needs someone to talk to but Allison is frustrated and says she doesn't have time. Lydia offers to translate the hunters bestiary pages on the kanima and says Ms. Morrell was wrong in her translation of the word "friend" as in the kanima seeks a friend. The passage actually reads, "the kanima seeks a master" meaning someone is controlling Jackson._**

"Not ominous at all" Laura muttered. "So lonely little lizard is actually a blood thirsty slave? Ew" Erica shivers.


	21. Author's Note

Hey all! Thanks for the awesome review! I'm here to answer a few questions that I saw on here(I never noticed that you can see the reviews o.o).

So first off I'll try to write till the very last season. But that depends on how I can divide up my time between writing and Uni.

Secondly, Currently on season 2. If you look at the title, the number before the "-" mark(Forgot what its called. Sorry! T_T) denotes the season number and the number after that mark is the episode number.

And thirdly, I will try to write more stories like this for the shows I like. I started one for supernatural so you guys go and see that one in my stories.

Thank you guys so much for all the love you are showing this little work of mine. Big fan of Teen Wolf and reading fanfics like this ^_^


	22. 2-7

**_In the woods, a man and woman we've never seen before argue in a small house trailer. The lights go out and the man goes to investigate. Looking out the window the wife sees her husband talking to someone in a hooded sweat suit. The man points up and the kanima's tail whips down from a tree and wraps around the man's neck pulling him off the ground. The hooded figure then points at the trailer. The man's body is thrown through the glass and lands on the table. It is quickly pulled outside again and the kanima crawls in through the broken window. It approaches the terrified woman but seeing that she is pregnant pulls away and leaves._**

"Well it's good to know that killing lizard Jackson has a soft spot for pregnant women" Lydia said with an eye roll.

 ** _In the Sheriff's office, Scott and Stiles are talking to Allison on speakerphone. Allison says that Jackson probably doesn't know that someone is controlling him. They speculate that his transformation into the kanima causes a fugue state that causes Jackson to forget his actions._**

"So we were right there" Peter said with a smirk. "You mean I was right" Talia corrected causing the smirk to fall.

 ** _In flashbacks, we see Jackson sitting on his bed at home arms covered in blood, in the shower washing off the blood and then back in bed on what appears to be the night of the full moon. A gloved hand reaches out for Matt's camera and the scene switches back to the present. They plan to try to explain to Jackson that he is being controlled and elicit his help in figuring out who the master might be._**

"I don't think that's a good idea" Isaac pointed out.

 ** _Sheriff Stilinski reads out the details of the restraining order Jackson secured against Scott and Stiles. They are to stay 50 feet away from him at all times. They cannot speak to him or assault or harass him physically or psychologically. Scott's Mother and Jackson's Father are in the room as the order is read._**

"Don't they play in the same team?" Melissa asked making the sheriff groan.

 ** _Once he gets his son alone, the Sheriff points out how lucky they are that Jackson isn't pressing charges. Stiles tries to play it as though stealing the police van and locking Jackson inside was some sort of elaborate joke._**

"Well if it was April fools it would have worked" Stiles said making his father snort. "Dream on pal. Dream on".

 ** _Scott's mother is equally upset. She says the restraining order is just the latest in a long line of concerning issues including Scott's increasingly bizarre behavior, late nights and having to beg Mr. Harris to let him make up a chemistry exam. She grounds him from all activities except for work and school. She also says he can't hang out with Stiles and tries to take away his car keys but becomes too upset to get the car key off the key ring._**

"Well now that I know why you do what you do, I'm less sad. Still sad but led than me in the future" Melissa said to a fidgeting Scott.

 ** _Scott seems ready to tell her what's really going on. Stiles is freaking out that he shouldn't tell and then Mrs. McCall suggests Scott's issues may have something to do with his father and he goes along with that excuse. She says they'll discuss it more at home._**

"Of all the excuses you could use" Melissa glared. "You put it out for me!" Scott countered. Melissa narrowed her eyes at her son but said nothing.

 ** _Jackson is sitting on a bench in the Sheriff's Office still wearing the pants Stiles dressed him in and the borrowed deputies coat suggesting that he's been there the whole time._**

"Creepy" Erica muttered.

 ** _In Derek's lair, Isaac asks why the pack needs Scott's help in dealing with the kanima. Derek says it's harder to kill than he thought and claims he's not even sure who it is. He sends Erica to get the information from either Scott or Stiles._**

"Aww Derek needs help" Stiles cooed. "So?" Derek asked with a raised eyebrow. Stiles shrugged "Nothing". Derek rolled his eyes.

 ** _Isaac then complains that Derek had promised to teach them to shift into werewolf form at will. Derek says there hasn't been time. He then produces large chains and metal collars. Isaac complains that if Derek locks them up during the full moon then he'll be all alone if the hunters come. Isaac then suggests that they forget the kanima but Derek says they can't because there was something in the way Gerard looked at it suggests that he knows something and is planning something. Derek says they have to find it first._**

"Well if he sees it from that point. And mix it up with a werewolves instincts, I'd say we have a solid case in our hands" Peter pointed out. Chris though did not think so. "Dad won't use supernatural creatures to kill innocents" he thought.

 ** _In the school library, Allison goes to great lengths to secretly talk to Scott and Stiles. They stand on opposite sides of a book shelf and she passes a Tablet through the books. On it we can see the translated text from the bestiary. "Like the wolf, its power is greatest at the moon's peak. Like the wolf, the Kanima is a social creature but where the wolf seeks a pack the Kanima seeks a master._**

 ** _The Kanima, a weapon of vengeance, is used to carry out the bidding of its master. The Kanima was once used by a South American priest who took it upon himself to rid his village of all murderers. The bond between master and servant grew stronger until the will of the master became that of the Kanima's and whomever the priest deemed unworthy, the Kanima served his vengeance._**

 ** _The Kanima is a mutation of the werewolf gene that cannot fully transform until it resolves that in its past which manifest it."_**

"So resolve inner conflicts and Jackson becomes a wolf? Well it wouldn't be that bad the" Peter said.

 ** _They discuss what this means for Jackson and decide it may have something to do with what happened to his biological parents. Allison decides to ask Jackson about it while Stiles asks Lydia. In the biology classroom, Jackson takes a snake out of its tank and allows it to crawl down his throat._**

"Oh come on! That's just so disturbing" Lydia shuddered.

 ** _Scott's mom enters his room at home to pick up the dirty laundry. She then decides to snoop. She flings stuff out of drawers and riffles through his books. Eventually she finds a 12 pack box of condoms but when she upends it, there is only one left._**

"Of all things you had to find" Scott groans. "Sorry" Melissa says sheepishly. "Don't go through my stuff again" Scott said trying to hide himself. Melissa just nodded and looked at the screen, ignoring the glare Chris was giving her son.

 ** _Allison follows Jackson down to the locker room at School. She is about to enter when the door opens and Matt steps out. They talk about shoes and he invites her to a rave on Friday. She hears Jackson choking inside the locker room and enters. Jackson is naked in the shower. He keeps her from leaving and taunts her about Scott and their relationship. He calls her a stupid bitch. He calls Scott a stupid bitch._**

"I hate that bastard" Allison growled. "Careful there Allison. You're sounding more like Peter" Stiles teased. "What did I do!?" Peter complained. "You were a murdering psychopath" Stiles shrugged. Peter wanted to say more before he thought of it and conceded with a nod and a shrug.

 ** _Stiles asks Lydia about Jackson's bio parents but she won't tell him anything. Erica shows up and forces Stiles up against the wall claws extended._**

"I'm carrying wolfsbane from now on" Stiles muttered angrily.

 ** _He points out the CCTV cameras and she backs off. She says she knows about Jackson's real parents and that they are dead and buried and that she knows how they died. Stiles interest in Jackson leads Erica to believe that Jackson is the Kanima._**

"Guess bitch me does have some brain cells left" Erica said with a smile.

 ** _In the chemistry classroom, Scott is taking his make-up test when he hears Allison's heart rate tick up. Mr. Harris says he can't leave until he fills in all the answers so Scott fills in "B" for all the remaining questions._**

"Okay dude that has like a 25% chance for every four questions. You seriously need to concentrate on your school" Boyd said with a roll of his eyes.

 ** _In the locker room, Jackson then says the werewolves will eventually turn on Allison and her family. She then grabs at his throat and tries to take him down but he lands on top of her. Jackson then shakes himself and seems confused as to why Allison is under him, why he is naked and what's going on._**

"So it was all that creep who is controlling him? He knows a lot about the packs and stuff. A little too much" Laura narrowed her eyes.

 ** _At this moment, Scott shows up Jackson points out that he has a restraining order and Scott assures him that he is restraining himself. They fight, breaking a sink, a tile wall and knocking over several lockers._**

"That's restraint? I never want to know what losing control is like" Allison said, a bit taken back by Scott on screen.

 ** _Erica and Stiles are heading to the locker room with him still trying to convince her not to tell Derek about Jackson. She confesses that she used to have a crush on Stiles but that he ignored her. They then notice water running from underneath the locker room door. At that moment, Scott is flung through the door and lands in the hall in front of Stiles. Jackson follows and continues to wrestle with Scott._**

"You had a crush on me?" Stiles asked shocked. Erica shrugged, "It was a long time ago" she says in a whisper. "I'm sorry for ignoring you" Stiles apologizes. Erica nods but says nothing.

 ** _Erica pulls him off and Stiles holds Scott back. Matt arrives on the scene and notices Allison's Tablet. He picks it up, wipes away some water and sees the bestiary translation. He quickly emails it to himself. Mr. Harris shows up and gives everyone, including Matt, detention._**

"Okay I'm sure now. Creepy stalker Matt is the head on Jackson" Stiles says. "We kinda guessed that a long time ago" Isaac says with a wave of his hands.

 ** _Mrs. Argent is monitoring the CCTV feeds in the school office when Mrs. McCall shows up. She's come to explain that Scott and Allison are still dating and are apparently sexually active. Mrs. Argent asks if the condoms might have been used with some other impressionable young girl with severely low standards. Mrs. McCall explains that Allison is the only girl Scott has ever talked about like that._**

"Aw" Allison coos and pulls Scotts cheek. "Stop that" he gently slaps her hands away.

 ** _Lydia and her stalker are talking by the lockers. He asks if she has plans after school and she says of course. He then asks her to meet him because he wants to show her something. He also tells her to bring the flower he gave her._**

"Dating your stalker? Really? What wrong did I do?" Stiles asks. "You didn't give me flowers or talk properly" Lydia says with a smirk making Stiles roll his eyes.

 ** _Detention is held in the library. Matt opens up the bestiary translation on his tablet and says the word "kanima" aloud within earshot of Allison. Scott decides that Stiles' plan to kill Jackson now suits him just fine but his friend says they have to save him. They then speculate that Matt is the kanima's master but then can't find a motive that fits that theory. Jackson's head begins to hurt. He winces in pain and asks to be excused. Mr. Harris follows him out._**

"I call favoritism" Laura shouted.

 ** _He heads to the locker room where he bends over the sink and stares in the mirror. The snake he swallowed earlier bursts from his eye socket and lands in the sink._**

"I'm gonna throw up" Allison groans.

 ** _Once Harris is out of the room, Stiles and Scott join Erica at her table. She says her father was the insurance examiner who worked the car accident that killed Jackson's bio parents and that the boy will get a large settlement when he turns 18._**

"The settlement can't be his inner conflict. Right?" Scott asked unsurely.

 ** _She pulls up the accident report on her laptop. It shows that Gordon and Margaret Miller died in a single car crash on June 14, 1995. It happened on Route 23 past mile marker 2 off Old Deacon Road in Beacon Hills. Apparently, skid patterns suggested that the car swerved suddenly and the driver lost control. Both the driver and passenger were DOA at Beacon Hills Memorial Hospital._**

"No but never knowing your real parents can be a big reason for it" Stiles points out taking in a gulp of air.

 ** _Scott is called to the office and confronted by Mrs. Argent. She sharpens pencils in an electric sharpener while explaining that his behavior and involving Allison in the activities that led to the detention is unacceptable. She says he's lucky that she is there to explain away things like a sink being ripped from the locker room wall. She then asks if he is having sex with Allison. While she's waiting for an answer, she sharpens a pencil down to a tiny numb. He says they're not having sex. She removes the pencil from the sharpener, it is about an inch and a half long, and holds it up. She stares the tiny phallus for a moment before saying that she certainly hopes they are not._**

"Oh my god" Allison groans into her hands.

 ** _Back at her house, Lydia frantically looks for the flower her stalker gave her. She can't find it in her room. She then goes out to the porch to look for another one but they don't seem to grow there. She then wanders away from the house and into the woods barefoot as if in a daze. She comes upon a beautiful home and goes inside. It is deserted except for a wardrobe with a mirrored door and scattered leaves on the floor._**

"Not creepy at all" Lydia mutters.

 ** _Mr. Harris leaves detention but says the students must stay until all the books are shelved. He exits to the parking lot and drives off in his car with a bumper sticker that reads, "Imagination is more important than Knowledge – Einstein". In the library, Stiles, Allison and Scott discuss how Jackson was born after his mother died. He was delivered by c-section. They also speculate that his parents' accident may have been murder since that would fall in line with the kanima myth._**

"That is a sound logic you put up" Chris points out.

 ** _In another area of the stacks, Jackson begins hallucinating with the covers of books transforming into messages aimed at him. "Modern Interpretations of Greek Myths" becomes "Jackson". "A Tale of Two Cities" becomes "Close Your Eyes Jackson" then switches to "Close Them Now."_**

"Showdown in the library" Laura rubbed her hands excitedly.

 ** _Scott decides to go talk to Jackson but instead finds Matt unconscious on the floor with a visible scratch on the back of his neck. The kanima jumps from stack to stack over Scott's head, crashing into light fixtures and knocking down ceiling tiles. Scott wolfs out. Jackson then lands behind Erica and incapacitates her._**

"Why am I this easy to take out? Every time!?" Erica asks feeling insulted.

 ** _Jackson seems possessed, like a marionette with someone pulling the strings, as he writes on the chalkboard, "Stay out of my way or I'll kill all of you". He then jumps through a window and is gone. Scott finds Erica and she is in the midst of a seizure. Allison and Stiles want to take her to the hospital but she insists that they take her to Derek. Scott doesn't want to leave Allison but she insist saying Stiles can't carry Erica alone and she needs to stay behind to get an ambulance for Matt. He says it doesn't feel right leaving her but she says it doesn't mean anything._**

"I mean you are helping a person in trouble out. It doesn't mean anything" Allison shrugged.

 ** _In the abandoned house, Lydia's stalker shows up and they kiss. She opens her eyes and see in the mirror that she is not kissing a young man about her own age but a burned and bloodied Peter Hale._**

"Ew ew ew ew ew ew! Gross" Lydia shuddered. "I knew he was a pedo" Stiles said out loud while Peter groaned.

 ** _She breaks away and then realizes that she is not in an abandoned but otherwise beautiful home she is actually in the burned out shell of the Hale House. She screams and collapses against the fireplace._**

"That scream did not sound human" Lydia pointed out.

 ** _In Derek's lair, Erica is not recovering from the seizure so Derek breaks her arm to trigger the healing process and squeezes it bloody to get out the venom. After she is stable, she tells Stiles that he makes a good Batman._**

"And that means I'm Robin. I don't accept that" Stiles complained.

 ** _Scott and Derek talk. Scott says he'll join Derek's pack just long enough to capture Jackson._**

"Welcome to the family!" Laura cheered.

 ** _Mrs McCall is at work at the hospital. The woman we saw in the trailer has just delivered her child. She grabs Mrs. McCall's arm and says the thing that killed her husband wasn't human. After she leaves the room, we see the hooded figure enter and a gloved hand come down over the new mother's mouth and nose until she is no longer able to breath and suffocates._**

"That's just cruel. Ripping a mother away from her newborn child like that" Stiles said angrily. Claudia looked at her son, emotions playing in both their eyes before she hugged him. Stiles, surprised at first returned the hug as tight as he could.

 ** _In Hale House, Lydia realizes that she had been hallucinating every time she'd seen her stalker just as she was now hallucinating Peter Hale. In fact, she remembers that she had seen a picture of Young Peter in a trophy case at school. The hallucination of Peter explains that he knew she would be immune to the werewolf bite and that he had decided to use her as a backup plan. He says that she will be able to do one very important thing but doesn't explain what that would be before he disappears._**

"You know, you're creepier dead" Laura points out. "First of all, I'm not creepy" Peters starts. "And secondly..I agree" he finished grudgingly.

 ** _Lydia opens her hand and is holding a wolfsbane bloom. Under the floor at Hale House, we see Peter Hale's body, dead and buried._**

"I wonder what you want Lydia to do. You are dead. It's not like she can bring you back or anything" Scott says. The older Hale siblings said nothing but both their eyes widened at Scott's last words.


	23. 2-8

**_A text message causes Jackson to leave school and drive to a warehouse where a line of kids, including Matt, is trying to buy tickets to a "secret show." Jackson does not seem to be in control of his actions. Matt, fearful after their last exchange during which he believes Jackson "punched" him, allows him to cut the line._**

"He is afraid of a punch? Dude lacks balls" Stiles snorted. "It's more like he is afraid that he has no control over Jackson anymore" Peter adds earning wide eyed stares from the others. "You mean Matt is the brains?" Erica asks slacked jaw. Peter nods, "it's kinda obvious from the way he had reacted to seeing Jackson just now. We just need a motive now" he finishes and looks back at the screen.

 ** _Scott is lurking. He joins the line and asks Matt about ticket prices. They are $75 each, which Scott apparently doesn't have. He asks Matt to borrow the full ticket price to which Matt merely shakes his head._**

"No one is going to let you borrow the ticket price they brought for themselves dude" Laura said. "I had to try" Scott pointed out to which she rolled her eyes.

 ** _Jackson focuses on the woman selling tickets behind the wooden bars of a freight elevator. As he purchases a single ticket, his attention makes her nervous and she abruptly ends sales and takes the elevator up._**

"She knows what's up it seems" Chris says with a raised eyebrow.

 ** _The Sheriff and Stiles eat dinner together at the department. Stiles notices the murder board which is pinned to the wall behind his father's head. On it, all the evidence of the recent killings is spread out in photographs and scraps of paper. Together they go over the pieces. The sheriff has figured out that the couple in the travel trailer and the mechanic are all 24 years old. At first he believed this to be pattern to which the death of Isaac Lahey's father did not fit but then he realized that Lahey had another son, called Camden who would have fit the pattern had he not been killed in combat._**

"Well the dead son might. But the father is no match" Peter mumbled.

 ** _Stiles figures out they would have all been in the same class at school and they search classroom records and the 2006 BHHS yearbook for more possible victims._**

"Your son is one hell of a mystery solver" Noah whispered to his wife. Claudia nodded and then looked at her smiling son with pride.

 ** _All of the victims up till this point seem to have been connected through Adrian Harris' intermediate chemistry class. Adrian is spelled "Adrain" on the classroom transcript._**

"Everything always goes back to the shitty chemistry teacher" Boyd muttered.

 ** _The students listed in the class are:_**

 ** _Tucker Cornish_**

 ** _Sean Long_**

 ** _Jessica Bartlett_**

 ** _Camden Lahey_**

 ** _Daphne Hayes_**

 ** _Anna Basso_**

 ** _Christie Stephens_**

 ** _Kathleen Kasinger_**

 ** _Brenda Findlay_**

 ** _Jade Holmes_**

 ** _Shena Hammer_**

 ** _Collete Knight_**

 ** _Patrick Duggar_**

 ** _Maloria Irvine_**

 ** _Johnny Langford_**

 ** _In the 2006 yearbook we see a picture of the girl we'd seen earlier selling tickets to the concert. Her name is listed as Kara Simmons._**

"So Matt is killing everyone from the 2006 batch? But why?" Scott asked. "Let's watch and see" Talia said pointing at the screen.

 ** _At the morgue, Allison and her father look at the bodies of the latest kanima victims. Her father explains that there are two killers because Sean was killed by the kanima and Jessica was killed by a human._**

"Probably Matt" Stiles muttered.

 ** _Chris quotes Winston Churchill "The price of greatness is responsibility." He says Gerard quoted it to him when he first learned their family hunted werewolves. Personally, Chris believes it's more about knowledge. His says because they know about the supernatural elements of the world they have an obligation to protect humanity. They are therefore responsible for the deaths of Sean and Jessica and the future of their daughter who will now grow up without parents. He says the hunters are there to protect anyone who doesn't have the power to protect themselves._**

"That's a fine way of saying it Chris" Talia told the hunter with a smile. Chris nodded his head with a small smile of his own. "I like what you said better Dad. We protect those who cannot protect themselves. Even the non-human ones who are no threat" Allison said with a smile. Chris looked at his daughter and for a moment agreed with what she had said before pushing the notion away.

 ** _He is trying to get Allison to confess all she knows about the creature. He says he's seen the CCTV footage from the library at school. He then whips back the sheet on one of the dead bodies and says because Allison knew about the kanima she is partially responsible for the deaths. She gives in and offers up information about Jackson._**

"I mean you are talking to your father. Better than that creep of a grandfather of yours. No offense meant sir" Scott quickly says. "No offense taken" Chris says with a smirk.

 ** _Derek and Isaac meet Scott at the Vet Clinic. The two younger werewolves bicker. Scott says he doesn't trust Isaac who says the feeling is mutual. Derek says he doesn't care._**

"Hey!" Isaac practically shouted. "In my defense I rarely knew you and all we did was fight. Plus you don't trust me either" Scott said. Isaac raised an eyebrow before shrugging, "point".

 ** _Dr. Deaton wants to know if they plan to kill Jackson or save him. Derek says kill. Scott says save._**

"We are not killing him!" Scott shouted this time. Derek said nothing but grunted.

 ** _The Vet produces a spice rack of small jars. Each is labeled with a symbol. Isaac asks him if he is some kind of witch. Deaton says "No. I'm a veterinarian." He says nothing in his spice rack will be an effective defense against the kanima's paralytic toxin._**

"Shame" Talia muttered.

 ** _They discuss the kanima's seeming lack of weaknesses. Derek points out that it can't swim. The doctor says since the creature can't swim and Jackson is Swim Team Captain, the kanima is manifesting a weakness of its master and they are essentially trying to catch two people. He illustrates with a small scrolled silver medallion with an image of Cernunnos, the Wicca Horned God, at its center. He says one is the puppet and the other the puppeteer._**

"Witch doctor sure loves examples" Stiles said jovially.

 ** _They then speculate on why Jackson killed Sean but the master had to kill Jessica himself. Scott believes it was because she was pregnant and Jackson's bio mother had died while pregnant. Isaac believes it may just be part of the rules of the kanima. He thinks since it kills murderers, that it could not kill mother and child because the child was an innocent. Scott asks if that theory would hold that Isaac's father was a murderer. Isaac says it wouldn't surprise him if he was._**

"Honestly it wouldn't" Isaac shrugged at the looks he was getting.

 ** _The Vet comes up with a plan that hinges on his belief that whatever affects the kanima also affects the master. At school, Matt asks Scott and Stiles why, given his own concussion and trip to the ER, the fight in the library hasn't caused more of a stir among the powers that be and why no one has been suspended. Matt says he found two tickets to the concert online but that the promoters have stopped selling._**

"Sounds like a trap" Erica sniffed.

 ** _Coach Finstock wants to know why Jackson missed morning practice. He asks Stiles, who doesn't know, and then tells Danny to inform Jackson that he can't miss any more field time this close to the championship. Finstock then grumbles that he should be coaching at the college level._**

"He would be kicked out the first day. Only reason he is here is because we can't find a replacement" Lydia snorted. "True but e is a good coach. He might a bit loony but he knows his goals and supports the team in a weird but useful way" Stiles defended his coach.

 ** _Stiles and Scott try to talk Danny out of his concert tickets with no luck. Then, off camera, Isaac beats up a kid who has tickets and steals them. He gives them to Scott and Stiles._**

"Dude thanks" Stiles at the same time as Scott groans out a "Are you kidding me".

 ** _Allison and Scott meet in the chemistry classroom. Scott relates the conversation he had with her mother. He tells Allison they should not be seen together and that he thinks she should be seen with other boys. She says Matt has asked her out and Scott thinks this would be perfect. He tells her to make a big deal of it to her mom and even kiss Matt to sell the deception. They kiss not knowing that Allison's mom is standing right outside in the hallway watching them. She stares at the couple, her eyes filled with hate._**

"When you make a plan, a stupid one but a plan nonetheless, always check the perimeter" Chris says rubbing his temple.

 ** _The Vet provides Scott and Stiles with Ketamine, a type of anesthesia they use on dogs. He believes this will slow Jackson down enough to trap him. He then explains that Stiles will have to create a barrier of black dust made from the Mountain Ash tree. It has the effect of stopping supernatural creatures like werewolves and, he thinks, the kanima. He explains that his Vet Clinic is lined with Ash wood and that the wood makes it difficult for werewolves to cause him any trouble. They think a barrier of the stuff, spread around the building where the concert is happening, will keep the kanima and his master inside._**

"Good plan" Talia approved.

 ** _Stiles is reluctant to take on the task but the Vet is adamant that he must do it himself and that Stiles must believe that the dust will have the desired effect, to imagine the outcome, in order to make it work._**

"What is this belief shit? What kind of magic needs belief!?" Stiles asks. "Uh all kind?" Laura says and rolls her eyes.

 ** _In the Argent's basement, Allison sits on the steps while her father passes out the guns to the assembled hunters. He explains that Allison has told him that Jackson will be at the party. Gerard pops more pills from his small silver pill case. Chris warns that they don't know how strong Jackson might be and that Allison will lure him away from the rest of the people before the hunters strike to reduce the chance of collateral damage. Once Allison leaves, Gerard says they plan to kill instead of capture Jackson._**

"I knew the creep was not to be trusted" Isaac said clearly angered.

 ** _Sheriff Stilinski returns home and Stiles immediately knows something is wrong because he notices his badge and gun are missing. The sheriff has been suspended due to Stiles stealing the department van and the restraining order from Jackson's dad._**

"Sorry" Stiles apologized.

 ** _Scott smells Allison shortly after arriving at the concert. He sees her dancing with Matt and she comes over. Scott is worried that her being there will mess up their plan. She explains that she told her father and Gerard about Jackson and they too have a plan. Scott is frustrated and tells her to just stay out of the way._**

"Dude no" Stiles groaned while Allison sniffed at a groaning Scott.

 ** _Scott gives the ketamine syringe to Isaac explaining that he now has to keep the hunters from interfering with the plan. Scott tells him to be careful. Isaac misunderstands and thinks he is saying not to hurt Jackson but Scott is adamant that Isaac stay safe and not get himself hurt._**

"Aw non trusting Scott still cares" Erica cooed earning eye rolls from Isaac and Scott.

 ** _Derek and Boyd confront Chris and four other hunters. They exchange words and the hunters open fire. Derek is shot with two Tasers simultaneously but grabs the wire leads and pulls the hunters to him and incapacitates them. Boyd is shot several times and does not heal because, Derek says, the bullets are laced with wolfsbane._**

"Shit" Boyd mutters.

 ** _Inside the warehouse, the music is pumping and the glow sticks are swaying as Jackson makes his way toward his next target. Erica blocks him by dancing and rubbing up against him. Isaac comes in from behind and is about to inject him when Jackson gets his claws out and scratches both of them. There must not have been much venom in the scratches because the pair of werewolves are slowed but not stopped. Isaac catches up to Jackson and injects him in the neck with the ketamine._**

"Way to go man!" Stiles whooped.

 ** _Outside, Stiles is almost finished ringing the warehouse with Mountain Ash dust but runs out with a 50 foot gap left to go. He sees a bumper sticker that reads, "Imagination is more important than Knowledge – Einstein." This inspires him to close his eyes and visualize his goal. He manages to make the small handful of the dust he has left reach the entire length of the gap closing the circle._**

"Woah magic" Stiles muttered. "Wait I think I saw that sticker somewhere" Laura muttered.

 ** _Scott is outside when an SUV comes out of the dark and rams into him. Allison's mom is driving the vehicle._**

"OH MY GOD" Melissa screams in horror seeing what had just happened.

 ** _Scott is knocked out and when he revives, he is face down in one of the back rooms of the warehouse. Mrs. Argent has set up a cannabis vaporizer filled with wolfsbane. She says she plans to kill Scott. As the vapor fills the room, Scott transforms and is incapacitated. She says it will look like an accident, like Scott had an asthma attack and couldn't get to his inhaler in time. She has learned this scenario is believable through her access to the school medical records._**

"She plans to kill him?" Allison mutters in horror. "Allison" her father tried to say before getting interrupted by her, "no matter what you say dad, she is killing an innocent. This makes her no less of a monster than Kate" he said with a tremble in her voice. Chris said nothing but sadly watched what happened next.

 ** _Matt and Allison are dancing when they run into their chemistry teacher, Mr. Harris and a young blond woman. He is frustrated and feels compelled to explain that his date is 21. He then leaves grumbling about how he knew they would run into a student._**

"Right that's where I saw that" Laura says to herself.

 ** _Inside, Stiles joins Erica, Isaac and a seemingly unconscious Jackson. Isaac decides to test the effectiveness of the ketamine and approaches Jackson claws extended. Like a puppet's, Jackson's arm shoots out to grab Isaac's hand and twists it painfully. Stiles then tries to talk to the master through Jackson. The voice of the master comes out sounding strange and unlike its host's. It explains that "We are all here." He goes on to explain that all the victims are murderers and that they are guilty of murdering him, meaning the master._**

"Weirdo" Stiles muttered.

 ** _Gerard is just outside Stiles' line of Mountain Ash dust. He puts his hand just over the line as one might test the heat of a stove or iron. He draws back with a look of confusion. Matt kisses Allison. He immediately realizes this was a mistake and tries to apologize but she leaves. Jackson begins to transform. Stiles, Erica and Isaac run out and block the door. The kanima breaks through the corrugated steel wall and heads toward the dance floor. He finds the party organizer, Kara Simmons, and slashes her throat._**

"We couldn't do it" Stiles, Erica and Isaac all thought in sadness.

 ** _Stiles finds Derek outside. Erica and Isaac try to follow but can't cross the line of Mountain Ash. Stiles is thrilled that his plan worked. Mrs. Argent bloviates about how Scott is a lone wolf, an Omega and that they never survive and how pathetic their cries can be. Scott whispers that he is not alone and manages to choke out a howl._**

Allison clung onto Scott's arms as tight as she could. Scott put a hand overs hers and kissed the side of her hands to show that he held nothing against her even if her mother tried to kill him. Allison leaned into him and calmed just a little.

 ** _Derek hears Scott and forces Stiles to break the line of Mountain Ash so that he can enter the warehouse. He finds Scott and is attacked from behind by Allison's mom who is wielding a knife. They struggle. Derek is apparently suffering the effects of the wolfsbane vapor as the older woman somewhat easily overwhelms him. She escapes. Sheriff Stilinski and Jackson's father arrive at the warehouse. The Sheriff is trying to find out the latest victim's name to see if it matches his theory about the chemistry class. It does not, she is the right age but is not listed as having been in the class with the other victims._**

"But Stiles knows otherwise" Erica said with a smirk.

 ** _Dr. Deaton treats Scott for the wolfsbane poisoning at the clinic. Ms. Morrell is in the reception area and questions the doctor's plan to let "a couple of kids" handle what is to come. He explains that they are more capable than she might think. She also wants to know if he plans to tell them about "what's coming." He says they already have enough to worry about._**

"Okay witch doctor knows something is not telling us why?" Boyd asked Chris who just nodded. "I don't know. He isn't a hunter and from looks of things isn't a wolf either" he said with narrowed eyes.

 ** _In the now abandoned parking lot of the warehouse, Victoria Argent stumbles out of the shadows calling for her husband. He runs to her and catches her as she collapses. He pulls back the top of her dress to reveal two bites, one on her left shoulder and the other just above her left breast. He kisses her on the top of the head and she seems to pass out._**

"You bit her!?" Chris screams at Derek. He had just now realized that it was during the time Derek and his wife were fighting in the dark room. "If you didn't notice she was hell bent on killing Scott and me, I bit her to protect us" Derek growled. "Dad Mom is strong. She won't die from the bite" Allison said shakily, still not totally over the fact that her mother tried to kill her love. "That's not what I'm scared of" Chris muttered quietly falling into his seat, defeated.


	24. 2-9

**_Lydia is dreaming. She's in the shower and hears someone say her name. She turns off the water. When she pulls back the shower curtain, we see the BHHS lacrosse field. The crowd in the stands is cheering for her. Some of them hold signs that say "We Love You Lydia." Lydia walks out onto the field and she is wearing her dress from Formality._**

"I have a feeling this isn't a dream. Or rather a good one" Lydia mumbled to herself.

 ** _While most of the crowd is cheering wildly, one girl seems terrified. Peter Hale walks out onto the field and attacks Lydia, knocking her to the ground and pulling himself on top of her._**

"Yep the pedo had to drop in" she sighed out loud earning a groan from said pedo.

 ** _She wakes up with her bed full of dirt. Hallucination Peter Hale is now reclining in bed next to her. He explains that he can't leave her alone yet and is not yet real._**

"What plan?" Stiles asks the wolf who just shrugged.

 ** _He then explains that his plan is set for the full moon in March, also known as the "Worm Moon," called this because it is the last moon of winter and the worms literally crawl out of the earth as it thaws. The next full moon is on her birthday and is the night Peter's plan will come to fruition._**

"No way!" Talia and Peter shouted then looked at each other. "You don't think" Peter started then stopped when he saw his sister nod. The siblings went dead quiet and watched, ignoring any and all questions.

 ** _He then shows her three visions of her birthday party. One in which everyone is dancing and having a good time followed by one where everyone is blood spattered and dead. The final vision of the party has all the guests standing still, just staring at her. The implication being that if she doesn't follow his plan, everyone will die. He then pontificates about Lydia's immunity and how her friends haven't let her in on the supernatural secrets. When she asks what it is she is immune to, he shows her a vision of himself as The Alpha Werewolf busting through her kitchen window._**

"I don't know why the fuck you're after her you pedo. You're dead. Dead men can't do stuff to the living" Stiles said with a snort. Peter looked at the boy before looking back at the screen, looking a bit terrified.

 ** _Chris Argent is cleaning his wife's werewolf bites at home. He keeps reassuring her that they are not very deep. Gerard comes down the stairs into the basement. Chris tries to convince his father that the wounds are not that bad and that they can't know for sure that she is infected. Gerard isn't buying it. He says it is a bite from an Alpha and that she is already dead. He describes his daughter-in-law as a "thing" a "cocoon waiting to hatch". Chris protests, thinking of Allison's feelings and the fact that they just lost Kate but Gerard says he won't play "Poisoned King" to Chris' "Hamlet" meaning he won't be the one that forces him to do what he knows he must._**

"How dare he!" Allison growled standing up. "How dare he insinuate that my mother is a monster? How dare he tells my father to kill his wife? HOW DARE HE TRY TO TEAR MY FAMILY!" she screamed the last part out, eyes full of tear yet flashing dangerously. Scott gets up and soothes her gently before sitting her down with him.

 ** _Derek and Scott conclude that they can't save Jackson. Derek points out that they can't seem to kill him either. Derek says he's never seen anything like the kanima and that every new moon will make him stronger. Scott suggests they leave Jackson to the Argents but Derek feels responsible for turning him and must therefore do it himself._**

"Responsible. You'll be a good Alpha" Talia smiled at her son.

 ** _Allison drops Matt off after their date. He apologizes for trying to kiss her and she tells him to forget about it. He asks about her relationship with Scott. She says they're not really together anymore and that it's complicated. He exits the car forgetting his bag and camera inside. Allison looks through the pictures on the camera screen. There are a few of the lacrosse team but most of them are of her. Some of the pictures, from outside her house at night, are obviously taken with a telephoto lens. Matt returns to the car to retrieve his bag and catches her looking at the photos. She lies about what she saw and he asks her to come in to see some candid shots he has of her on his computer. She declines. He insists. She declines and drives away._**

"Fucking creep of a bastard stalker" Scott rambled on, angered. No one tried to stop him or soothe him, too busy going through angered rants themselves.

 ** _In the lair, Derek opens his big trunk of torture and begins removing the chains and other devices he'll use to lock up his pack during the full moon. Isaac notices the triple spiral on the inside lid of the trunk. Boyd explains that it's a Triskelion. He says the spirals mean different things; past, present, future or mother, father, child. He speculates their significance to Derek would be Alpha, Beta and Omega. Derek agrees and says the spirals remind us that we can all rise to one or fall to another. Betas can become Alphas but Alphas can fall to Betas or even Omegas. Isaac says Scott is an Omega but Derek says Scott is part of the pack now._**

"You seem really happy about that" Laura pointed out. Derek shrugged, "he was the first beta in a while, and he kind of reminded me of me when I was young. Naïve and looking for the best in everyone" he said. "What changed?" Stiles asked. Derek looked at the human and for a moment a flash of pain through his eyes. Stiles narrowed his eyes before they widened, "The fire. I am so sorry" he immediately apologized. Derek shrugged it off and they all returned to watch the show, all but Peter. He looked at his nephew a bit of sadness in his own eyes, "that's not all" he thought to himself having a small flashback of a younger yellow eyed Derek.

 ** _Derek explains that the bloodlust that takes over werewolves on the full moon is the price they pay for their power, the ability to heal balanced by the desire to kill anything they can find during a full moon. Erica makes a period joke saying she's glad her time of the month passed last week._**

"Okay yeah that really sucks when the full moon is on and so is your period" Laura shivered, memories of such events fresh in her mind.

 ** _Lydia shows up at Allison's with three Macy's bags full of outfits for her party. Allison says Lydia didn't send out any invites to her party. Lydia says she doesn't because it's the biggest party of the year and everyone already knows about it. Allison doesn't directly reference her friend's recent estrangement from reality but gently suggests that this year might be different. Allison then probes her about Jackson and wonders if he will be at the party. Lydia gets defensive and says everybody is coming._**

"You don't seem like yourself here at all" Stiles says. "like you would know" Lydia rolled her eyes. "Actually" Scott started, "if anyone was to notice it would be Stiles. Years of stalking and such" he finished with a laugh which was joined in by the rest of the room but Chris.

 ** _Allison's mom knocks. Her face is pale and covered in sweat. She is having obvious trouble walking. She tells Allison that she needs to talk to her. Allison acts annoyed and says it will have to wait. Mrs. Argent turns to leave but looks back wistfully at her daughter trying on clothes with a slight smile. Then, disappointed, she staggers away._**

"This…was going to be her last words to me wasn't it" Allison mutters trying to stop herself from breaking down.

 ** _Stiles is at home flipping through the BHHS yearbook from 2006. Several of the pictures of students have red X's through them. His father comes in and they discuss the case. The Stilinski says they brought Harris in for questioning. They are going to arrest him because there is evidence that his car, the one with the Einstein bumper sticker, was present at several of the crime scenes. There were matching tire tracks at the trailer in the woods and it was seen outside the hospital the night the young mother was killed. Then Stiles remembers that he saw the same car at the warehouse party. Stiles isn't convinced. He points out that Kara Simmons, the last victim, wasn't in Harris' class and Isaac's father doesn't fit in anywhere. Stiles dad then notices a picture of the swim team in the open yearbook. All of the victims were members and Isaac's dad was the coach._**

"Now we find the missing link" Stiles smiled at his father who smiled back.

 ** _While school is out for spring break, the lacrosse team apparently still has practice. Lydia shows up at the locker room to ask Jackson if he plans to come to her party. He looks at her as if he doesn't know her. When she touches his arm, he recoils from her, shaking his head as if suddenly awake. He explains that she doesn't want him at her party. She thinks he's talking about their recent fight and his flight from her after the kiss at Scott's house. Jackson grabs her arm and again insists that she doesn't want him at the party. She recoils, frightened by the look in his eyes and in a daze she turns and walks away saying "I'll see you there." As she leaves Jackson's eyes flash into kanima form then back to normal._**

"I think Jackson is getting control over his kanima form a little here" Talia points out. "What makes you say that?" Peter asked. "Notice how when it concerns things he cares about he can hold himself back, like an anchor" she says and Peter nods.

 ** _Allison arrives at Lydia's walking alone up the driveway. The doorbell inside the house rings. When Lydia answers it, Stiles is standing on the porch with an enormous wrapped package. He tries to squeeze it through the door but it simply will not fit. Lydia tires of watching him and turns to go saying, "don't forget to try the punch."_**

"Curious you would say that" Stiles says. "I agree" Lydia says with a nod.

 ** _Stiles lays out the case for Scott. Kanima Master hates the 2006 swim team since all the victims were on the team etc… Allison joins them and they discuss how sad the party looks since no one is there because, they speculate, nobody is coming because Lydia has turned into the "Town Whackjob" Allison thinks they need to do something to salvage the party because they've been ignoring Lydia. Scott points out that Lydia has been ignoring Stiles for 10 years and that they don't owe her a party._**

"True" Lydia says with a sigh.

 ** _Allison points out that she wouldn't be the town whackjob if it weren't for them and the werewolf shenanigans._**

"Also true" she glares at the guilty party.

 ** _Scott invites the lacrosse team and Stiles invites the drag queens he met at Jungle._**

"Why the drag queens?" Lydia asked with a groan. Stiles shrugged, "probably cause they were the only other crowd I knew".

 ** _Derek chains up Boyd, Isaac and Erica in the old subway car in the lair. He uses manacles and a circular clamp with sharp screws that he tightens into Erica's head. Derek says she is better equipped than the boys to handle the pain._**

"Well that will be the first time I'll thank the gods for making me a girl who gets period cramps" Erica joked.

 ** _Lydia's party is rocking. As the consummate host, Lydia is making sure everyone has a glass of orange punch in hand. Stiles suggests that Scott needs to apologize to Allison. Scott refuses because he says he hasn't done anything wrong. Stiles says it's the full moon talking and Scott agrees but wonders why it matters so much._**

"Never thought I'd say this but Stiles is right" Derek suddenly spoke up earning surprised stares from Scott and Stiles. "Apologize to your lady before it's too late" he says then goes quiet.

 ** _Stiles does a soliloquy on how nothing is going right, people are dying, he got his father fired and he's in love with a nutjob._**

"Hey!" Lydia protested.

 ** _He says if he has to watch Scott loose Allison to a stalker like Matt then he'll stab himself in the face._**

"Well no need to get all staby there man" Scott said with a snort. "Oh no seriously. I agree with myself. If you lose Allison to the stalker I will stab myself in the face" Stiles says and then a knife appears on his lap. He blinks at the knife before looking at his friend, "you better fucking not lose her to him" he growled.

 ** _Jackson shows up at the party. Lydia gives him a glass of punch and as she turns to prepare more glasses, we see wolfsbane petals floating in the bowl._**

"Uh Lydia?" Stiles mumbles. "Shut up Stiles" Lydia said quickly and watched.

 ** _The full moon rises over Beacon Hills and in the lair, Boyd and Erica scream and growl and struggle with their chains. Isaac seems relatively calm as Derek finishes securing his bonds._**

"Go me!" Isaac cheers, much to the amusement of the older wolves.

 ** _The Beta wants to know how Derek keeps from losing it on the full moon. He explains that he has an anchor. For Derek the anchor is anger, he focuses on his rage and that allows him to remain in control. As he is checking the chains, he gives one a pull and it comes loose. He suddenly realizes that the bonds probably won't hold his pack after all._**

"Well it was nice knowing you brother" Laura fake sobbed.

 ** _Chris Argent has brought his wife a briefcase full of prescription drugs as they discuss how to fake her suicide._**

"I can't believe you're going through with this!" Allison said in horror and reverted back to her angered emotional self she just recovered from.

 ** _He thought of it because most women use pills when they take their own life. Mrs. Argent points out that she is not most women, pulling out a large knife. Victoria then exits to write her suicide letter. Gerard urges Chris not to hesitate because of Allison, saying that she will face many earth-shattering events in her life. The old man says Chris needs to go upstairs and help his wife die with dignity._**

"Die with dignity my ass! This is murder! Murder I tell you" Allison screamed, struggling against Scotts hold on her. Scott looked to Chris to try and get him to help only to see the shell of the man he was. He looked broken, like he had given up on living. He seemed defeated and was ready to just give in. Scott watched him with sympathy, still holding Allison.

 ** _At the party, the guests have reached the giggly stage of intoxication. Lots of laughter and making out is going on around the pool area. Lydia continues passing out the wolfsbane punch giving a glass to Matt. He is about to drink it when he spies Allison. After she disses him, he throws the punch in the garbage. Lydia then gives Scott a glass. He protests saying he can't drink tonight (because of the full moon). Lydia thinks his abstinence has to do with Allison. She encourages him to make up with her on the spot and Scott agrees, downing the glass of punch in a couple of swigs._**

"So we now know how we can get Scott to drink. Great job Lydia" Stiles shot his thumb up at her.

 ** _Unfortunately Allison, who a moment before was right across the pool from Scott, is nowhere to be seen when he looks around. Allison and Matt have gone inside together. He wants to talk. She is tolerating him. He goes to close the door to the room but after a look from Allison reconsiders and leaves it open. He tries to justify the pictures he took of her using a telephoto lens. He says photographers call them candid shots. She points out that police officers call it stalking. He takes great offense to this and tells her to get over herself. She tries to leave and he grabs her arm. She grabs his shoulder and twists his arm, laying him out on the floor._**

"You tell him sister!" Laura cheered.

 ** _Allison's Hallucination:_**

 ** _She sees a hooded figure with a crossbow. She yells for Scott as the figure approaches, raises the bow and fires a bolt into her guts. The arrow buries itself deep in her stomach and blood begins to pour from the wound. When she looks up, her attacker moves closer and reveals Allison's own face. Her hooded doppelganger mocks her for yelling for help and saying she is pathetic. She then raises the crossbow to fire again, this time at Allison's head, but as she pulls the trigger, the hallucination Allison and the stomach wound vanish._**

"Showing our most inner fears?" Scott asks. "More like the side of us we usually bury deep inside without even realizing. Like self-doubt and stuff after having been scarred mentally or something" Peter tried to explain. And it seemed to work as Scott nodded his head.

 ** _At the party, the guests have reached the "not quite sure what's going on but I like it" phase of intoxication. Almost like they are on ecstasy, people stroke each other faces and caress the leaves of trees._**

"Okay you have got to admit that was hilarious" Boyd laughed.

 ** _Stiles' Hallucination:_**

 ** _We hear Sheriff Stilinski shouting that he's just come from a funeral. Stiles sees his father yelling at the party guests. He is gesticulating wildly with an open bottle of brown liquor. He turns on Stiles and blames him for his mother's death. Relating how the whole time Stiles' mother was dying in the hospital he was dreading having to raise Stiles on his own. He says his son is a hyperactive little bastard that keeps ruining his life. He then points a finger at Stiles and says, "You killed your mother. You killed her and now you're killing me." The sheriff then throws the liquor bottle at Stiles who ducks. The hallucination ends and Sheriff Stilinski and the flying bottle disappear._**

"You heard me?" Noah asked in a scared voice. Stiles shrugged while Claudia looked at her husband with anger, "you blame our son for my death!?" she shrieked. "No no of course not. But the part where I dreaded having to raise him alone. We just lost you and I was afraid if I could ever fill the void you left in Stiles from your early demise and then my own insecurities and" he kept on mumbling before he was silenced by a kiss from his wife. "You did great dad" Stiles smiled, "tho I was a shit, you gave me all the love I needed" he smiled at his father who smiled back at him, looking a bit teary. Stiles looked back at the screen, his mind playing back a memory of a younger Stiles standing by the door hearing his father ramble on about how Stiles had killed his wife like his mother used to say, clearly drunk from the bottles of alcohol on the floor.

 ** _Scott's Hallucination:_**

 ** _Walking up the stairs at the party, he sees Jackson and Allison making out on the window seat above. He then sees the kanima and Allison making out. He begins to wolf out but then the hallucination is gone and he is back to normal._**

"Oh god gross" Erica cringed. Allison wanted to tell Scott that his worries were for nothing, but couldn't as she still had to recover from the shock of having to live on without her mother being by her.

 ** _Jackson's Hallucination_**

 ** _We hear a man and woman say they're looking for Jackson. Their backs are turned to him. They repeatedly say they are his real parents. When they turn around, their faces are blank and featureless with no eyes, nose or mouth. Suddenly Jackson's face is blank as well. The hallucination ends and Jackson is back to normal. He scans the party desperately looking for the blank faced couple._**

"All he wants to know is what his parents look like?" Scott asked. "More like he hates himself for not knowing what his parents look like. So him not knowing anything about his parents is like his inner fear or something" Peter said with a sigh. The Jackson kid was not an ass, he was more of a lost kid who hated himself and everything around him because he didn't know his parents and by extension himself.

 ** _The party has reached the "I don't care who you are come here and sloppily lick my face" stage of intoxication. Scott is looking for Lydia but she has her keys and is walking down the driveway away from the house. In the lair, Boyd and Erica escape their bonds and attack Derek. While he is fighting them, Isaac bursts through the window of the subway car and is away. The fight with Derek and the two remaining Betas goes badly. While he does manages to lock down Erica, Boyd is about to escape when Isaac returns. He is now apparently in control of himself and he helps Derek subdue his pack siblings. Isaac explains that he used the memory of his father to anchor him and stay in control. Derek believes this is because his father locked him in a freezer in the basement to punish him. Isaac reveals that his father's abuse was a recent development saying "he didn't used to."_**

"Well that is true too" Isaac whispered. "When did it start?" Laura asked the boy gently. "Ever since Camden died I think. Or maybe a bit later on" he sai quietly looking at the female wolf.

 ** _Stiles has apparently reached the "just leave me alone and let me sleep" phase of intoxication. Scott is trying to revive him when Danielle shows up and tells him he is doing it wrong. She grabs Stiles head and dunks it in the pool. Stiles comes around quickly after that._**

"That was perfect" Scott laughs. "I should try this" Noah said with a smirk. "You will do no such thing" Stiles says, his face looking offended.

 ** _Sitting on Allison's bed, Victoria Argent holds a picture of her daughter and herself. She laments to Chris that she didn't get to talk to Allison earlier. She says she will need her husband's help. The moon is rising outside and she has the knife poised to plunge into her heart when Chris stops her._**

"Mom" Allison whispered brokenly. Chris couldn't watch it anymore. He closed his eyes, to shield himself from the future.

 ** _She says she can feel the werewolf infection inside. They concoct a plan to tell people that she had a history of depression. She worries that people will tell Allison that she was weak, that she took the easy way out. Chris says Allison will know it was the hardest thing she ever had to do and that she did it for her family. She then asks him for help once again and, as the moonlight stretches further into the room and her eyes begin to glow a bright yellow, they plunge in the knife._**

And with the sound of the knife piercing through the screen, both Argents break down into tears. Scott put an arm around Allsion and held her close to him as she sobbed into his shirt. Melissa looked at the crying Chris before getting up and going to him. "Hey" she said gently, putting a hand on his shoulder. Chris didn't look up, he still had his eyes shut tight, tears running down his face, as he tried to hold in his sobs by biting his lips. Melissa wrapped her arms around the man and he leaned into her embrace.

 ** _Allison arrives at the hospital, her father is standing in the hallway talking to a sheriff's deputy. She is crying. In the room behind Chris we see a sheet-covered body on a gurney. Allison screams at her father saying that he'd better tell her if this is another of his sick training sessions. He holds her tight while she fights him and sobs uncontrollably._**

Just like in the screen, the Allison in the room was sobbing her heart out into her love's side who held her close to him. No one in the room was left dried eyed, not even the ever stoic Derek Hale.

 ** _Lydia's party guests have now reached the "hey watch me while I do this incredibly dangerous/stupid/unmentionable thing" phase of intoxication. People are still making out. Some run and jump in the pool. We hear someone begging not to be thrown into the water. A man shouts that he can't swim but two partygoers throw him in anyway as Stiles and Scott watch. He bobs up and down a bit before sinking below the surface. Jackson reaches in and pulls him out. It's Matt. He is angry and gives his best "I'm gonna kill you" look to Scott and Stiles before he drips away. The cops show up and everyone bolts from the party. Outside, while the guests run from the cops, Scott sees a still dripping Matt standing with the kanima at his feet. He then seems to simply vanish from the spot. Lydia arrives at the lair. She blows a purple powder into Derek's face which immediately knocks him out. She drags him to Hale House where we see she has chopped through the floorboards and dug into Peter Hale's grave. She arranges Derek over the hole with his arm dangling down. She then places it in Peter's dead hand. Lydia then turns to a complex arrangement of mirrors, turning one slightly so that the reflected moonlight hits it, bounces off all the others and reaches down into the hole bathing Peter's face with light. In a matter of seconds, Peter's not so dead hand grabs Derek's arm in a fierce grip and his eyes fly open. Derek's eyes go from "Alpha Red" to his natural color. Seconds later, Peter bursts free from the grave, revived and restored. He says, "I heard there was a party," and adds with a smirk, "Don't worry I invited myself."_**

No one had reacted to the rest of the clip even if they watched it. The emotions from seeing a daughter lose her mother to the disgusting hunter code had them all shocked and depressed.


	25. 2-10

The group had decided to turn in for that day, let the Argents grieve over the loss of a loved one. The group returned what they considered to be the next day and restarted their watch. Both Argents were silent, Allison stuck to her father like a small child.

 ** _In a flashback to the night of Jackson's first post-bite full moon, Matt is concerned that Jackson is borrowing his camera to make a sex tape._**

"Very possible" Stiles snorted trying to lift the mood, but it did nothing.

 ** _He also suspects that it might involve Allison. So, after handing the camera over, he returns to his car and triggers an app on his phone that allows him to get a live feed from the camera._**

"Technology has really advanced" Peter said in awe.

 ** _He witnesses Jackson's transformation into the kanima. Then he sees the creature in his car's side mirror creeping up behind the vehicle. As the kanima reaches him, Matt extends his hand to the window and a clawed hand matches him on the other side of the glass. Matt then shares a vision of the Kanima killing Isaac Lahey's father the night before._**

"So the first kill was an accident?" Talia mumbled. "It would seem so" Peter answered, his wolf hearings catching her words.

 ** _Stiles and Scott try to convince Sheriff Stilinski that Matt, not Mr. Harris, is the real killer. Stiles speculates that Matt somehow borrowed the teacher's car to lay suspicion on him when his former students turned up dead. The sheriff is skeptical but they manage to get him to sneak back into the Sheriff's Department to review the evidence. At the station, they review security footage from the night Jessica Bartlet was killed. Matt is seen walking down the hall towards her room. He is also seen talking to Scott's mother. Scott calls her and she remembers talking to Matt because he was tracking mud all over the halls._**

"He is a sloppy killer" Noah snorted. Claudia shook her head, "only you would judge a killer on his skills". "Not true" Noah said, "Stiles would do it too" he pointed out to a nodding Stiles.

 ** _The sheriff says they have footprint evidence at the scene of the trailer murders and a credit card receipt for an oil change the night the mechanic was killed. They can now place Matt at the scene of four murders including the rave. The sheriff asks Scott to call his mom back to come down to the station to give a statement in hopes of getting an arrest warrant for Matt._**

"Finally the creep will be behind bars" Scott says to Allison. She hears what he said but does not respond. Scott sighs and rubs her back soothingly.

 ** _Stiles heads to the front of the office and finds the officer on duty dead, bloody and slashed. He turns to find Matt pointing the officer's service revolver at his head._**

"Well it had to be me" Stiles said with a roll of his eyes.

 ** _Derek is floating in a formless white void. Someone is calling his name. He is naked. Covered in sweat, his breath comes in short little gasps._**

"Someone looks like he had a nice night" Laura said with a smirk and elbowed her brother, who she was sitting next to again. Derek just growled at her.

 ** _The voice says "we don't have much time" then he is assaulted by a low-pitched ear-splitting sound. He awakes on the floor at Hale House with Dr. Deaton kneeling over him. Derek asks about the sound that brought him out of his daze and the doctor produces a sub-sonic dog whistle._**

"Dog whistles work on us?" Isaac asked receiving nods from the experienced werewolves.

 ** _Derek is weak, nearly falling when he tries to stand. The doctor says this will last for several hours. The Vet assures him that he is still an Alpha just not a particularly competent one._**

"I can't argue with that" Stiles laughed and then squeaked seeing the glares he got from Derek and Laura.

 ** _Deaton explains that helping the Hale family used to be a pretty important part of his life and that helping Derek is a promise he made to Derek's mother. Derek says his sister, Laura Hale, had spoken of Deaton as an adviser._**

"What kind of an adviser? Do werewolves even need them?" Boyd asked. "All packs have one. They act as the voice of reason for an Alpha" Talia explained.

 ** _Deaton explains that Peter's resurrection came at a price as he will now be physically weak and will have to rely on his intelligence and cunning. Deaton believes Peter will come after Derek and try to get inside his head and manipulate him. He predicts that Peter will try to convince Derek that working together is the only way to stop Gerard but Deaton says Derek should not trust him. Derek says he doesn't trust anyone. "I know," quips Deaton. "If you did you might be the Alpha you like to think you are."_**

"oooh shit burn" Isaac hissed.

 ** _He then intimates that Scott doesn't trust Derek but that Derek must find him as fast as he can because Deaton has known Gerard for a long time and he knows the old man has a plan and he believes that plan is going exactly the way he wants it to. Matt leads Stiles at gunpoint back to Scott and the Sheriff. Stiles' dad tries to talk him down but Matt is having none of it. He handcuffs the Sheriff outside the jail cells and leads Scott and Stiles away down the hall. They see three sheriff's deputies dead and bloody on the floor. Matt says he just has to think about killing and Jackson does it for him. The kanima arm reaches into frame and drags one of the bodies out of site._**

"That looked like something straight out of a horror movie" Lydia muttered with wide eyes.

 ** _Allison sits alone in the center of her bed worrying the edge of what appears to be a green bathrobe. Her grandfather enters. She says she doesn't want to talk but he says he has a letter from her mother that explains what happened and why she had to kill herself. He gives it to her along with a speech, which seems like a lie, about how Victoria had asked him to read the letter and help her write it. He works this into a push for retribution against Derek and his pack._**

"That fucking son of a son of a bitch!" Chris growled, not at all liking what his father was doing. Allison looked murderously at the screen, digging her nails into her palm. "I will kill that bastard once we return home" she grinded out.

 ** _At the Sheriff's Department, Matt forces Scott and Stiles to shred the physical evidence and destroy the digital evidence in the murder investigation. A car arrives, which they think is Scott's mom but it turns out to be Derek who collapses in a heap on the floor, paralyzed by the kanima. Jackson, partially transformed, is standing behind him. Allison burns her mother's note as instructed. She then sets about removing everything of sentimental value from her room. Tearing pictures off walls, clothes from her closet and throwing Knick-knacks hither and yon. When she is finished, nothing of her former life remains. She is left with just her hunting equipment, arrowheads and knives._**

"This is bad" Scott mutters to himself and sneaks a peek at his girlfriend.

 ** _Matt explains that he's learned about the werewolves and the other supernatural goings on in Beacon Hills. He then asks Stiles what he turns into on the full moon. Without missing a beat, Stiles replies that he is an abominable snowman but that his transformation is seasonal. Matt apparently doesn't appreciate the humor and has Jackson paralyze Stiles. He falls to the floor on top of Derek muttering "Bitch" on the way down._**

"Hah" Laura huffed a small laugh.

 ** _Another car arrives, this time it is Melissa McCall. Matt tells Scott to follow his orders then, to drive home his point, he rolls Stiles off Derek and applies a boot to his chest making it impossible for him to breath. Melissa enters to see Matt pointing a gun at her son. Then, for no apparent reason, he shoots Scott just below the right side of his rib cage. Matt then menaces Melissa with the gun as she freaks out about Scott's injury. Matt locks Melissa in a jail cell. She begs him to allow her to tend to Scott's wound but he refuses._**

"He plans on exposing Scott" Derek grinded the words out in anger. Anger directed mostly at himself for falling so easily and letting his guards down. "Or he doesn't know that I don't know" Melissa points out.

 ** _He then explains that what he's really after is the bestiary. He is trying to figure out all he can about the kanima because, as he pulls up his shirt we see, he is beginning to transform into a creature himself._**

"Probably a side effect" Talia says to her brother who nods.

 ** _Allison gets a text from Scott asking her to bring the bestiary to the Sheriff's Department. She tells Chris and Gerard that she knows Scott didn't send it because he wouldn't have texted her and wouldn't have mentioned Derek if he did. They plot their plan of attack realizing that, since budget cuts, the Sheriff would only have four staff on overnights and that the kanima has likely paralyzed or killed them all._**

"I hate to say this but Gerard has a solid plan here" Chris grits out. Allison nods and watches, still angered.

 ** _Gerard says Allison is now in charge. Chris objects but Allison seems to relish her role as leader of the hunters. She says she wants Derek dead. Chris asks about Scott and Allison says Scott wasn't the one that forced her mother to kill herself. She says Derek, not Scott, is the priority and says if the rest of the pack gets in the way then they'll kill them too._**

"Murdering others aside, I'm glad you decided to keep me alive" Scott smiled at her. Allison finally turned to him and smiled a little, "I would never hurt you. Again" she whispered and leaned against him.

 ** _Derek and Stiles remain paralyzed on the floor. They discuss Matt's transformation. Derek says the bestiary won't help him saying Matt can't break the rules without the universe trying to balance it out somehow. They speculate that Matt broke the rules when he forced Jackson to kill people that didn't deserve it and when he killed Jessica himself. Derek begins to sink his claws into his leg in hopes of triggering his werewolf healing and forcing the kanima toxin out of his system faster. Matt explains how he "died". Coach Lahey was having a party at his home to celebrate the BHHS Swim Team's win at the 2006 State Championship. The coach had apparently allowed the kids to drink and they had become quite rowdy. 10 year-old Matt was visiting Isaac to trade for a Spiderman or Batman comic book. He somehow ended up surrounded by the drunk and rowdy teens._**

"You knew him?" Boyd asked Isaac who seemed to be looking confused. "I guess I did?" Isaac answered unsure.

 ** _Sean, Bennett and Jessica are all there. Then Camden Lahey grabs Matt and throws him into the pool where he drowns while the teens just stand around and do nothing. He is resuscitated by Coach Lahey who warns him to tell no one. He says it's Matt's fault anyway because he doesn't know how to swim. Matt kept the incident to himself. He would go on to suffer flashbacks that would trigger night terrors and shortness of breath. His parents mistook these incidents for asthma and bought him an inhaler._**

"You dad was an asshole. To force a kid to shut his emotions like that" Melissa growled.

 ** _Matt explains how he became the Kanima Master. At Kate Argent's funeral, Matt snapped a picture of Coach Lahey and wished him dead. That night the kanima killed Coach Lahey. He says it was like the furies of Greek myth coming down to punish Orestes._**

"That thing is hardly a deity" Laura rolled her eyes.

 ** _He then chides Scott for his ignorance of the classical reference explaining that the furies are deities of vengeance with tears of blood and snakes for hair that punished criminals who had escaped justice. Matt says Jackson is his fury._**

"Snake hair reminds me medusa. Was she a fury too?" Stiles asked but no one answered him.

 ** _The following night he witnesses Jackson's transformation and connects with the kanima. He says he instantly understood that Jackson had killed the Coach for him. So he went to the garage and snapped a picture of Tucker and a few hours later the anima killed him too. Matt says all he had to do was snap pictures of his victims and the kanima would kill is still clawing at his leg trying to get his werewolf healing to drive the venom from his system it doesn't seem to be working._**

"Well that sucks" Laura said with a frown. The healing should have activated by now, were he thoughts.

 ** _The power goes out. Emergency lighting flashes on and a siren starts to bleat. Outside, headlights sweep over the building and hunters with automatic weapons begin firing through the windows. Matt and Scott dive under desks. The hunters then toss in a smoke grenade, which Gerard describes in lofty Shakespearean terms, "Love is a smoke made with the fume of sighs"._**

"Why is he quoting Shakespear when he is out to kill?" Stiles asked with a groan. "He loves to be poetic" Chris shrugged.

 ** _Scott manages to find his feet, runs past a partially transformed Jackson and manages to get Stiles off the floor and out of the room. Jackson is right behind them as they pass through office after office finally coming to a door Jackson can't get through. Jackson goes full kanima. Once Stiles is safe, Scott rejoins the fray, encountering Allison in the hall. She threatens him with the cross bow demanding Derek. Scott doesn't understand her behavior, he apparently doesn't know about Victoria's bite and subsequent suicide. She exits warning him to stay out of her way. Chris and his daughter are stalking Jackson in the Evidence Room. The creature is curled up on one of the shelves and when Chris gets close it pounces. Allison shoots it in the head with a bolt from her crossbow. It goes in right between the kanima's eyes but he simply pulls it out and keeps on attacking._**

"Even a werewolf can get taken down for a while from that. What is he really made of" Peter watched with narrowed eyes.

 ** _Allison runs, dropping her crossbow in favor of a knife. She hides in the garage. The creature follows but she surprises it coming it at it from atop one of the cars. She stabs it in the chest but it doesn't seem to mind at all. It grabs her throat and squeezes. Allison manages to get another knife from a sheath on her leg and digs it into the creature's side but it just slashes out paralyzing her._**

"Never go attack something far stronger than you with no plan and only emotions ruling your mind. Lesson learned" Allison sighs.

 ** _Matt comes over to gloat and to declare his stalker "If I can't have you, no one can" love for her. He is distracted by a clanking of metal and leaves her lying on the floor. Chris swoops in and picks her up and gets her to safety. Sheriff Stilinski manages to pry out the fixture to which his handcuffs are locked. Stiles has managed to crawl a little ways down the hall on his belly. Matt shows up and coldcocks the Sheriff into unconsciousness._**

"That one has got to hurt" Stiles flinches.

 ** _Smoke pours out the window of the Sheriff's office. Gerard, waiting outside, has a coughing fit and palms out his pills from their silver case. As he is licking the residue from his hand, he sees a figure in the shadow of the building. It looks like Peter Hale. Melissa McCall begs Matt to let her see Scott. Derek enters wolfed out. The kanima enters and they go at it and the creature seems to knock Derek out with a kick to the chest. The creature then menaces Melissa but can't get to her inside the cell. Scott shows up and drags the kanima off the bars. Derek recovers and goes after the creature while Scott, now in werewolf form, faces his mother. She shrinks back in apparent horror of what her son has become._**

"Great. Be scared of your son why don't you" Melissa sighed. "To be fair, you are going through a traumatic event" Scott defended earning him a smile.

 ** _Scott runs out and runs into Gerard in the hall. Scott says it wasn't supposed to happen like this. He says he did everything Gerard asked, joining the pack and spying on Derek, supplying information on Jackson and Matt's role in the crimes._**

"Well it was expected since he threatened his mom" Laura shrugged.

 ** _Gerard says to leave Matt to him and sends Scott to help his friends and deal with his mother. Gerard drops his silver pill case and Scott retrieves it. As he exits we see Derek is standing in the shadows and has heard the entire exchange._**

"That won't end well" Talia muttered looking at her son.

 ** _Matt manages to escape out a side door and makes it on foot to a nearby bridge but Gerard apparently took the SUV and beat him there. They struggle but Gerard bests him and holds his head under water until he is dead. Gerard then coaxes the kanima from its hiding place under the bridge and they touch hands. On the bridge above, Peter Hale watches man and kanima._**

"How could he!" Chris exclime din horror. He could not believe his father would kill a non-supernatural in cold blood, just to gain control of a beast.


	26. 2-11

**_Stiles is restringing the mesh on his lacrosse stick. It has apparently been several days since the events of the last full moon. Stiles is talking to Ms. Morrell about the sensations one experiences while drowning. How hard the body fights, through excruciating pain to avoid opening the mouth under water. This instinct is called voluntary apnea and is so strong that you pass out before breathing in water._**

"You have way too much random knowledge" Erica muttered to the thin weird boy who shrugged with a smirk.

 ** _Stiles describes it as peaceful. The counselor asks if he means that he hopes Matt experienced a moment of peace as he died. He does not. She asks if he feels sorry for the 9-year-old Matt who drowned. He explains that the childhood trauma doesn't give Matt the right to kill the kids that hurt him._**

"Correct. He could have gotten help if it was not for the coach but it gave him no right to do what he did" Noah agreed.

 ** _He also reveals that investigators found a bunch of pictures of Allison on Matt's computer. Matt had apparently photo shopped himself into several of the images to make it appear that he and Allison were holding hands and kissing. Based on all this Stiles concludes that Matt was riding the crazy train for a long time._**

"Crazy and creepy" Allison shuddered, imagining the edited photos.

 ** _We also learn during Stiles' session that his father was reinstated as Sheriff. Stiles says there is a new tension between father and son. He also hasn't talked to Scott since the night of the full moon. Scott is at home pulling a new shirt from a Macy's bag. He hears his mother down the hall and rushes out to talk to her. She closes the door to her room and he stands outside and asks her to talk to him. On the other side of the door she looks like she wants to but does not._**

"Oh come on woman" Melissa screamed internally, but externally just sighed.

 ** _Stiles says Scott and Allison are also not speaking and that it is her choice. The death of her mom has hit her hard and she and her father have become closer._**

Allison sighed looking at her boyfriend. He looked normal on the looks, but she could tell that was not the case. His eyes told her what she suspected. He wanted to help her, or at least the future version of him wanted to help the future version of her, but future her was a bitch and pushed him away and that had hurt him, both present and future.

 ** _Allison, in her car, fogs up the window to reveal a message Scott has left for her. It says "12:00 PLEASE." She quickly wipes away the condensation and the message it showed. Allison, in the basement with Chris, goes over a map of Beacon Hills. There is a grid pattern with several of the grids marked with an X. Only one grid remains in the center of the map. It is marked "Beacon Hills Rail Depot." Stiles explains to Ms. Morrell that Jackson hasn't been himself lately and we see him sitting on his bed, claws extended, hands covered in blood. Stiles says Lydia is now the most normal of the group._**

"What you mean I am not normal?" Lydia sniffed at Stiles. Stiles shrugged, "future you was in no way normal in all this" he pointed out. Lydia wanted to throw an argument at him but knew he was right. So for now she decided to just pout at the boy who smiled sheepishly at her.

 ** _Since Stiles has been obsessively tightening the mesh on his stick throughout their conversation, the Counselor asks if he is nervous about the championship lacrosse game set for tomorrow night. Stiles says no because he never actually plays. But, he adds, due to the fact that one teammate is dead and another is missing that might change. Ms. Morrell then turns the conversation to Isaac and the other "runaways". Stiles tries to change the subject asking her why she doesn't take notes. She says she does them after each session but then drives the conversation back around to Stiles. He says he's not sleeping, is jumpy and suffers from a constant overwhelming fear that something terrible is about to happen._**

"Guess the wolves and hunters aren't the only affected party here" Peter looks to Stiles who was watching the scene, ignorant to what was happening around him right now.

 ** _Ms. Morrell diagnoses him with "hypervigilance" which is often a symptom of posttraumatic stress disorder. She describes it as the persistant feeling of being under threat. Stiles says it's more than a feeling. He describes it as a panic attack, like he can't breathe. Ms. Morrell brings this back around to the discussion of drowning using this as a metaphor for all the stuff that Stiles is dealing with. She says Stiles should hold off opening his mouth until the autonomic reflex to breathe kicks in because it will give him more time to fight his way to the surface or get rescued. Stiles isn't buying it. He asks what if the pain gets worse going from agony to hell later on. In answer, she quotes Winston Churchill "If you're going through hell, keep going."_**

"Wise words" Claudia muttered and looked worriedly at her son. Stiles though just looked at the screen. He was always a sensitive one and events which usually involved people he was close to made him panic for them. It was like if the matter did not get solved soon then he might lose something which he could never get back. Reason why he liked to be so nosey, to make sure everything was alright. If he was to think on it, as to where this feeling had first seeped into him, he would find the event quite easily at the back of his mind. He turned to his mother finally realizing that she was looking at him and gave her a smile to comfort her. Claudia returned her son's smile but knew that he was not ok.

 ** _Scott steps out of his shower at home. He hears a hissing sound coming from his bedroom. He enters to find the Kanima clinging to the wall with its tail wrapped around his mother's throat, suspending her above the floor._**

"Oh my god" Scott groaned, rubbing his temple and tried to hold back any angry retort which was building at the back of throat.

 ** _Gerard is sitting in the room too. Scott flicks out his claws but Gerard just laughs since he knows he has the upper hand. The old man says Scott hasn't been answering his phone so he took a more direct approach to contact Scott. He wants Derek and his pack. Scott says they're in hiding and he doesn't know where. Gerard then explains that he plans to use the kanima to get revenge on Derek for the death of Kate._**

"That has got to be the biggest load of bull I have ever heard" Allison growled, pushing her nails into her own palm as she balled her fists. Chris watched the scene with cold fury. This wasn't his father, this wasn't the man. This was a sorry shell of an old power hungry man who would do anything to achieve his goals. "If I think about it, he was always like that. I just never saw it. Or never tried to see it" he thought watching.

 ** _Gerard and the kanima leave. Mellissa appears terrified. She says she doesn't understand what's happening, what that thing was or even what Scott has become. She then begs him to just give Gerard whatever he wants but Scott says he doesn't know if he can. Erica and Boyd are walking in the woods at night. They hear what sounds like the howling of wolves. They think it might be werewolves._**

"Sounds too good to be true if you ask me" Isaac said with narrowed eyes.

 ** _The following day, Derek is at home going through some books when Erica and Boyd come in and announce that they are going to leave him. He tries to talk them out of it saying they need an Alpha and a pack. They explain they think they've found another pack already because of the noises they heard the night before. They believe they heard as many as a dozen wolfs howling but Derek explains it might have been only two. An acoustic phenomenon known as the "Beau Geste Effect" creates the auditory illusion that a couple of wolves is actual a couple of dozen. They remain unconvinced and leave him anyway._**

"Bad move guys" Isaac sighed and looked at the two beside him who didn't agree with him.

 ** _At the vet clinic, Dr. Deaton is filling a syringe and Scott is assisting. They hear the bell from the front door and the dogs in the kennel begin to bark furiously. The both enter the lobby to find Isaac standing there. He joins them in the examination room. Isaac can smell that the dog on the table is very sick and not getting better. Dr. Deaton explains that Scott has this ability as well as part of the werewolves enhanced sense of smell. Saying that their powers can also be used on others, the vet has Isaac lay a hand on the dog and absorb some of its pain. This transference manifests physically as a black liquid filling the veins on his hand and then diluting and dissipating as he absorbs it into his system._**

"Okay that is cool" Stiles said with a huge smile and an excited glint in his eyes.

 ** _Isaac weeps after he realizes what he's done. Scott says he cried the first time too._**

"Babies" Laura coughed out then smiled innocently as the two threw sour looks at her.

 ** _A second after Erica and Boyd leave him, Peter Hale shows up to talk to Derek. After throwing a mirror shard, which Peter catches an inch from his throat, Derek turns to face his uncle. Peter berates him saying "I'm out of commission for a few weeks and suddenly there's lizard people, geriatric psychopaths and you're cooking up werewolves out of every self-esteem deprived adolescent in town."_**

"Lizard people" Erica laughs. "Why are you laughing? You called him the same and even cooed" Peter pointed out and then smirked when she stopped laughing and blushed.

 ** _He then offers his help saying Derek is the only relative he has left and that there is still a lot he can teach. Derek punches him across the room._**

"Ouch man" Peter winced, rubbing his face as if he felt the ghost of the punch hit him.

 ** _Isaac explains to Scott about Boyd and Erica's plan to leave. Saying he's seeking out Scott's advice because he trusts him. Scott says he has no idea what he's doing most of the time. Isaac says he'll likely go with the other two and then lets Scott know that Jackson was back at lacrosse practice after the siege at the Sheriff's station and would be playing in the game that night._**

"Typical Gerard. Plant a spy in to make opportunities out of small openings" Chris said, leaning back into his chair.

 ** _In the locker room, Danny is talking to Jackson but isn't being heard. He shouts Jackson's name and the boy seems to snap out of a dream. He then warns Danny to stay away from him on the field. He goes further saying that if he should run toward the goalie that Danny should run the other way as fast as he can. Scott overhears the conversation._**

"Not ominous at all. Just your normal teenage hormones" Laura said in a wise voice. Or at least she tried before bursting into laughter.

 ** _Mrs. McCall has come to the locker room looking for her son. She makes her way through the suited team members as Coach Finstock begins his pre-game motivational speech, which is a verbatim rendering of the big speech Bill Pullman gives in Independence Day just before the pilots go off to fight the Aliens. Stiles explains this to Mrs. McCall saying the coach does it every year because it is his favorite movie. He ends the speech to cheers from the players. Gerard comes in, Mrs. McCall shrinks back behind Stiles. Gerard says he won't be happy with a win – he wants them to kill the other team. The coach explains that Scott is benched because he is failing three classes._**

"It must have really hurt coach to say that" Stiles snorted.

 ** _Peter and Derek are still fighting. Peter claims he doesn't want to be the Alpha again saying it wasn't his finest performance seeing as how it ended in his death. The older wolf turns the tables on him explaining that Derek is only beating on him to relieve himself of his self-loathing and hatred he feels over his complete and utter failure as an Alpha._**

"Agreed" Laura, Stiles, Isaac, Erica and Boyd nodded. Derek's face turned sourer, if that was even possible as he continued watch.

 ** _Before the game, Stiles and Scott sit on the bench and discuss the potential for death and destruction during the game. Stiles confesses that he feels helpless after having to watch, paralyzed, while Matt cracked his dad's head open. He says that he and Scott are losing their fight. Stiles gets to play lacrosse for the first time in an actual game. The coach puts him in for the as-yet-unseen Greenberg because in Finstock's words, "He sucks. You suck slightly less."_**

"What a way to motivate a player" Noah rolled his eyes.

 ** _In the stands, Sheriff Stilinski, sitting next to Melissa McCall, sees Stiles enter the game and stands and shouts his happiness in response. Gerard speaks in a voice he knows only Scott can here. He says when the clock counts down to the end of the game he is going to have Jackson transform into the kanima and kill someone unless Scott gives up Derek's whereabouts. He specifically threatens Scott's mother, the Sheriff and Lydia who is just arriving at the game and sits next to Mrs. McCall. He then threatens the Coach, calling him ridiculous._**

"While I do not want the man dead, I do agree that he is ridiculous" Chris said with a sigh.

 ** _In the woods, Allison, her father and another hunter are on four wheelers. They are playing wolf howls through speakers attached to the front of the vehicles. This is the howling Boyd and Erica heard the night before and they are cowering behind some trees now hiding from the hunters._**

"Told you" Isaac said to a defeated looking Boyd and Erica.

 ** _Derek and Peter have stopped fighting. Peter points out that he is not healing as fast as he used to and how this is a result of how much his resurrection sapped his strength. He again says he needs a pack and specifically an Alpha like Derek. He says they both need each other._**

"You're far more cunning than I first thought. Making Derek injure you in a fight and then show him how weak you were. Perfect way to get a beloved family member to take you under his wing" Stiles said. "Thanks" Peter smiled.

 ** _Stiles gets off to a slow start getting tackled repeatedly, dropping the ball and generally looking like a clown on the field._**

"This is so embarrassing" Stiles groaned much to the amusement of Laura.

 ** _The team is losing badly. Isaac shows up which is a surprise to Gerard. He and Scott cook up a plan to disable their own teammates so that coach will be forced to put Scott into the game._**

"Bad plan" Scott says right away. "But it is the only one we have right now" Isaac points out. Scott sighs and watches the ensuing chaos silently.

 ** _The plan works, they disable a couple of players before Jackson takes out Isaac with a tackle and a scratch that leaves him partially paralyzed._**

"First I get man handled by the female wolf and now I get paralyzed by lizard man. What's next? I get possessed by a demon fox?" Stiles asked, annoyed at what he saw. "That could actually happen you know" Talia said making Stiles groan.

 ** _In the woods, the hunters find Boyd and Erica. They run on foot as the hunters pursue on the ATV's. The vehicles stop and Allison jumps off, shedding her helmet and grabbing her bow. She fires a single shot and takes Erica down with an arrow to the leg. The injured girl tells Boyd to run on without her. He seems reluctant but does as she asks. Allison catches up to Erica and draws back for the kill shot but Boyd returns and catches it in the nick of time. He is repaid with six arrows to his chest, leg and stomach. Allison has a smile on her face as Boyd growls in pain and Erica begs her to stop._**

"You look like a psychopath" Erica tells Allison who groaned. "I know" she groaned again.

 ** _With Isaac injured, the coach must either allow Scott to play or forfeit. He chooses the former. Mrs. McCall runs on to the field. She's sensed that something is up and Scott warns her to just leave. She says she won't leave and that Scott should forget everything she said earlier while she was cowering in fear. She says if Scott can do something to help then he has to do it._**

"Now that's the mom I know and love" Scott cheered with a grin. Melissa shook her head at her son's antics with a smile.

 ** _As Allison is drawing back for her seventh shot, Chris shows up and shoots the bow from her hand. Boyd collapses on the ground as does Erica._**

"Thanks for not letting me become a killer dad" Allison smiles at her father who smiles back. "As if I woud let that ever happen" he said with a smile.

 ** _Scott and Stiles both get tackled hard. As Scott is getting up he realizes that Gerard is no longer on the field. He can still hear him as the old man offers to trade Allison for information about Derek._**

"How much lower does he expect to go?" Scott asked with a low growl. "Apparently more and more everyday" Chris said in a hard tone.

 ** _Allison tells her father that he owes her a new bow. He says she owes him an explanation. She becomes haughty and says that she caught them. Chris says "caught" nearly became "kill" and that is not the way the hunters operate. She is defiant and says her way worked out pretty well. She then throws up her "talk to the" hand and calls Gerard. She leaves a voicemail message. Calling him "Grandpa" she explains that she caught their two runaways._**

"I can't believe I just called him that" Allison sighed. "To be fair he is helping you get revenge for you mother's murder. Even if he is redirecting the blame" Stiles said.

 ** _In the locker room, Isaac is crawling along the floor trying to get away from Gerard and two other hunters. The old man has the large silver sword. Gerard indicates that he plans to cut Isaac in half, saying the situation would be much more poetic if it were "half-time."_**

The whole crowd groaned, fed up with all this poetic crap from the old timer.

 ** _Peter is deep into conversation with Derek. He explains that, while Derek tried hard to build his pack, he failed and Gerard is winning. Peter then says he knows how to stop Jackson. By "stop" Derek assumes he means kill but Peter corrects him saying he knows how to save Jackson._**

"Now you're talking my language" Scott smiles at the older male wolf who snorts.

 ** _Gerard is toying with Isaac, scraping the sword slowly across the floor as he comes nearer. Isaac makes it to his feet using the sink for support. As the old hunter rears back to swing the sword, Isaac smiles. Then Gerard realizes why when he catches a glimpse of Scott, eyes glowing, in the mirror._**

"That is kinda cool" Allison muttered.

 ** _The game continues and the coach realizes Scott is missing. During a rather confusing play, the ball rolls directly up to Stiles' feet. All the other players seem to have lost track of it. Stiles scoops it up and, screaming, stutter steps into a run toward the goal. He stops short. With the whole of the opposing team bearing down on him and everyone in the stands yelling for him to shoot, he manages to get the ball past the stunned goalie and into the net. And the crowd goes wild._**

"Go Stiles!" Scott cheered, koined in by most of the occupants. Stiles stood up and waved his hand at everyone in a gracious way, a slight blush on his cheeks.

 ** _In the locker room, Scott takes out all the hunters but Gerard is missing. Peter says there is a myth saying you can cure a werewolf simply by calling out its Christian name. He explains that our names in large part define our identity. Derek objects that it is just a myth but Peter says sometimes myths and legends bare a hint of truth. He says our names are a symbol for who we are. The kanima has no identity, which is why it doesn't seek a pack. It seeks a master to give it purpose. He says the human parallel would be an orphaned child, like Jackson._**

"So a werewolf can be turned back then?" Scott asked hopefully. Talia shook her head, "A werewolf already knows who and what he is. But according to Peter, A Kanima has no such knowledge and as such his plans can work out" she said. Scott nodded and fell back into his seat with a sigh.

 ** _Peter explains that Jackson's identity is being buried underneath the kanima and that Derek can bring him back through his heart. Unfortunately, as Derek points out, Jackson doesn't have much of a heart. Peter says that is not true and that he actually has a bond with and cares deeply for Lydia. Peter believes she can save him. He then chides Derek for his lack of heart saying this is why he's always needed Scott more than anyone. He then says "Even somebody as burned and dead on the inside as me knows better than to underestimate the simple yet undeniable power of human love."_**

"Life lessons brought to you by none other Peter Hale. If you want to know more please visit our website. Or register with us to receive more of such things on your cell" Laura says it like an advertising woman. Peter grumbled as the room laughed.

 ** _Stiles is scoring machine – putting up an additional two goals in the game's final minutes. The final score will be 10 to 9 Beacon Hills. He looks in the stands and sees Lydia smiling and cheering for him and Stiles has never looked happier._**

The Stiles in the room shared the sentiment with the Stiles on screen.

 ** _Scott makes it back to the field as the clock begins to tick off the final 30 seconds. Jackson stands away from the rest of the team, claws out as the crowd erupts in celebration of the win. Then the lights go out on the field and someone screams. It is chaos as everyone runs about in the dark, terrified. Scott can hear his mother calling and makes his way to her. She says someone is down on the field. The lights come back up and we see it is Jackson who is down. Lydia, seeing him injured, runs to his side. Mrs. McCall listens for a heartbeat and hears none. She pulls up his jersey to reveal deep puncture wounds to his abdomen. She makes Lydia get down to help her with CPR. Issac and Scott notices that Jackson's hands are bloody and that he must have inflicted the wound himself._**

"That bloody monster" Lydia growled. "I don't think Jackson is gone yet. I feel there is more to it than what meets the eyes" Stiles narrowed his eyes.

 ** _The Sheriff runs on to the field and realizes that Stiles is nowhere to be seen. He yells for his son._**

"And of course I would be the one taken as a hostage" Stiles groaned.


	27. 2-12

**_Jackson is in a black body bag in the back of an ambulance. A clear viscous liquid oozes from a hole near the zipper. The EMT thanks Mrs. McCall for her help and says they can take it from here but she decides she wants to ride in the ambulance too and doesn't take no for an answer._**

"You know that's really really dangerous right?" Scott asked his mother who just shrugged.

 ** _A nameless hunter forces Stiles down the steps into the Argent's basement. He hears something in the darkness and fumbles for the light switch. As the light comes on, he sees Boyd and Erica trussed up and hanging from a support beam by a tangle of electrical wire. Black Gaffer's tape covers their mouths._**

"They are being tortured!?" Allison said in disgust and horror. "You shouldn't be surprised. You caught us" Erica said coldly. Allison shrunk a little at the words.

 ** _Sheriff Stilinski is trying to investigate the disappearance of his son and Jackson's death but he can't focus. In the locker room he asks Scott and Isaac to try calling and emailing him and to contact the sheriff if they hear anything at all. They tell him Stiles is probably just freaked out by all the attention after he scored the winning goal._**

"Good excuse but he won't buy that so easily" Stiles said with a smirk.

 ** _Coach Finstock gets a little emotional explaining how much he needs Scott on the field. He explains that, even though he yells a lot, he doesn't hate the guys on the team, except Greenberg "because, well, he's Greenberg." He encourages Scott to improve his grades so he will be eligible to play next season because he needs him on the team. Scott says he will._**

"Who exactly is this Greenberg? And where is he?" Laura asks. The Lacrosse players look at each other before they shrug in unison, "To be honest, we don't know".

 ** _Once everyone leaves the locker room, Scott rips the door off Stiles' locker. He says he and Isaac will track him by scent. Scott takes a shirt to smell and hands Isaac a shoe. Before they can follow this course, Derek and, much to Scott's surprise, Peter show up._**

"Why am I given the stinking she!?" Isaac complains. "First off, best friend rights. Secondly, my shoes don't stink" Stiles said loudly.

 ** _In the Argent's basement, Stiles attempts to untie Erica but gets a shock from the obviously electrified wire that binds her. Gerard enters explains that he won't bother to torture Boyd and Erica because the instinct to protect their Alpha is too strong for them to betray Derek._**

"And yet he does it" Erica growled.

 ** _Stiles attempts to stand up to Gerard. He explains that Scott will find him by scent because his is a pungent scent "more like a stench" and that Scott could find him "even if I was buried at the bottom of sewer covered in fecal matter and urine". Gerard compliments Stiles ability to create a vivid picture then paints one of his own of Scott finding Stiles blooded and beaten to a pulp._**

"He even thinks of doing that, I will kill him" Scott growls. "Not if I beat you to it" Noah says in anger.

 ** _Stiles then points out that Gerard is like 90 and says he can kick his ass up and down the room. Gerard replies with a strong backhand across the face. He then punches Stiles senseless._**

"Taken down by evil oldie locks. Great" Stiles sighed in embarrassment.

 ** _Scott confronts Derek about Peter's return. Derek confronts Scott about his conversation with Gerard. Scott's defense is that Gerard threatened to kill his mom and he had to get close to him. Peter sides with Scott saying that Mrs. McCall is gorgeous. Both Scott and Derek tell him to shut up._**

"Finally the two agree on something" Laura joked.

 ** _Isaac is wondering about the new guy. Scott gives him the abbreviated version. "That's Peter, Derek's uncle. A little while back he tried to kill us all and we set him on fire and Derek slashed his throat." Scott wonders how he's alive but Derek deflects the question saying that Peter knows how to stop and perhaps save Jackson. Isaac informs them that Jackson is dead. Peter says Gerard forced Jackson to kill himself. Chris arrives in Allison's room and finds her talking to Gerard. Chris confronts him about what happened at the game. Gerard says they won. He explains that he's talking about Jackson. Chris asks Allison to step aside since one of her friends is dead. She says that's Derek's fault too. She blames him for all of it, Kate, her mom and Jackson._**

"So Jackson committing suicide is my fault too. And Peter killing Kate?" Derek asked with a raised eyebrow. "I was brainwashed in a very good way" Allison defends weakly.

 ** _Chris asks her what happens is Scott dies too. She questions his motives asking him when he started caring about Scott. He says he cares about her. She throws it back in his face saying he should be proud because she is doing exactly what he wanted her to do. Chris says she is not doing what he wants, she's doing what Gerard wants. She says she wants to go to bed and reminds him that he owes her a new bow. He picks up her crossbow and cuts the string. He says he owes her a new one of those now too._**

"Chris, mah man" Stiles laughs and gets up to hug him only to sit down again, receiving a glare from the man.

 ** _Melissa is in the morgue. She notices the viscous liquid dripping from Jackson's body bag and decides to investigate. She psyches herself up, unzips the bag, and sees Jackson covered in a clear cocoon from the neck down._**

"That's gross" Lydia muttered, covering her mouth. "You know, it looks like a cocoon. Like a caterpillar cocoon" Boyd says. "I agree" Talia said with narrowed eyes.

 ** _Sheriff Stilinski speaks to someone at the hospital. He is still searching for Stiles. He is explaining that they should call him if his son shows up when Stiles walks into the room. He has a large red welt across his cheek and a split lip. He tells his father that some members of the other team beat him up after the game. He says it was his own fault because he was mouthing off to them about the loss. The Sheriff goes ballistic. He wants descriptions and says he will go to the school and pistol whip "these little bastards". Stiles manages to calm him down and they embrace._**

Claudia smiled at the two most important men in her life. She was glad to see that even without her, they would do such a wonderful job in pulling through.

 ** _At Hale House, Peter has hidden a laptop under the stairs. He explains to Derek, Scott and Isaac that he digitized all of the Hale's assorted lore, records and reference books shortly after he recovered from his coma. Scott's Mom calls. She is freaked out over Jackson's cocoon and thinks Scott should have a look. Stiles is lying on his bed. There is a knock at the door. It's Lydia. She is crying. She says they won't let her see Jackson and explains that it's important for her to see him because she has something she has to return to him because he kept asking for it back. She holds up the key to Jackson's house._**

"Awww" Laura cooed at the blushing strawberry blonde.

 ** _Scott is clueless as he Isaac and his mom examine Jackson's cocoon. Mrs. McCall is all like "I thought you were going to tell me. Is it bad?" Isaac says it doesn't look good. Then Jackson twitches on the table and they all freak out a little. Scott asks his mother to zip up the body back. She gives him a look that says, "My son the big bad werewolf expects ME to do this?" She tries to zip up the bag but it gets stuck under his chin and Jackson gnashes with his kanima teeth and she jumps back. Scott is freaking out more repeating the word "zip" over and over. The bag is finally zipped and Jackson moves again inside its black confines._**

"Some werewolf you are" Derek rolled his eyes at Scott who blushed.

 ** _In his basement, Chris explains to the still trussed up Boyd and Erica that his family has been studying werewolves for a long time and have learned that electricity, properly applied, can retard their werewolf abilities. He says a certain level of current will keep them from transforming, a little more will cause their healing ability to cut out and a little more will stop their enhanced strength. He says such scientific accuracy causes one to wonder where the line between the natural and the supernatural really exists. The two Betas seem to panic as his hand reaches for the knob that controls the current within their bonds but Chris is reflective. He says the lines between the natural and supernatural blur and you find yourself surprised by which side you end up on. He twists the knob. The prisoners' faces relax as the electric current eases._**

"I expected you would do the right thing Chris" Talia smiled at the hunter who just nodded at her. Allison looked to Talia then to her father. "You two know each other?" she asked. Talia shook her head, "My instincts tell me he is an honorable man" she smiles at the younger girl. Allison nods, "that he is" she smiles at her father.

 ** _Stiles doesn't have any normal tissues so he hands Lydia a roll of toilet paper. She grabs Stiles' phone and says he has 17 missed messages from Scott. She asks if he is ignoring him and Stiles says not really. She then spies a Macy's bag on the desk and gets up to investigate. There are several pieces of women's jewelry from Macy's. Stiles explains that he didn't know what to get her for her birthday so he bought a whole bunch of stuff, including a 32″ Flatscreen HDTV. He says he plans to return all the items he didn't give her. Another message comes in on Stiles' phone and Lydia rushes over too him saying he'll definitely want to read this one._**

"You really over thought that one huh buddy" Scott laughed at a blushing Stiles. Lydia looked at Stiles with a soft smile, feeling a warmth growing inside her.

 ** _Having also received a message from Scott, Derek explains to Peter about Jackson's cocoon. Peter looks it up on his laptop. He says that it looks like what they've seen from Jackson so far is just the Kanima's Beta shape. Apparently, according to the Hale's library he is turning into something "bigger and badder" with wings. Derek tells Scott to bring Jackson to them. Scott doesn't know if there's time because Jackson is now wiggling an awful lot inside that body bag._**

"Jackson is going to become a butterfly" Stiles laughed, trying to forget that little moment a while earlier. Scott joined in on the laugh as did Isaac and Boyd and Laura.

 ** _Peter finds an animation of the "bigger" Kanima. Thinking the creature might be less frightening in motion, he plays it on the computer. A loud screech comes from the speakers and Peter quickly closes the laptop. They decide they can't wait for Scott to make it to Hale House and they'll instead meet him half way._**

"That scary huh?" Laura asked. Peter shrugged, "probably yeah".

 ** _At the Argents, Gerard senses Jackson's resurrection and tells Allison "It's starting." Scott and Isaac carry Jackson in the body back through the hospital parking lot. Scott accidentally drops his head to the pavement just as Chris Argent pulls up._**

"You two are going to damage whatever small amount of brain the guy has left" Allison huffed causing a bit more laughter.

 ** _Derek and Peter race toward the door but Peter pulls up short saying they have to get Lydia. Derek says there is no time and Peter gives an odd little speech about how they are going too fast and racing right into Gerard's crosshairs. Derek says if he gets the chance, he's killing Jackson._**

"What is with you and killing? Is it like some fantasy that helps you wank or something?" Erica asked the scowling wolf. The room erupted into laughter as the mentioned scowling wolf scowled more, his cheeks a bit pinkish.

 ** _Chris says he's come to help Scott because they have a common enemy. Scott thinks he means Jackson Chris says that's not their enemy. Lydia wants to go help Jackson. Stiles doesn't want her to go because she might get hurt or killed. As he puts it, "I'll be devastated and if you die I will literally go out of my freaking mind. You see, death doesn't happen to you Lydia. It happens to everyone around you. Okay? To all the people left standing around at your funeral trying to figure out how they're going to live the rest of their lives now without you in it. Huh? And look at my face! Do you actually think this was meant to hurt me?" Lydia cringes back from him and he realizes that he's been taking out his frustrations on her in her already fragile state. He apologizes. She turns and with a look of determination says she'll find Jackson on her own. He calls after her but she is gone._**

"That was nice and all but next time just give the girl some flowers and maybe a card to say you love her and would be devastated to see her die" Laura rolled her eyes. Stiles blushed and looked at her with a scowl. Lydia on the other hand looked at Stiles as the warmth inside her spread out more.

 ** _Chris explains to Scott and Isaac how Gerard has manipulated Allison the same way he did with Kate. He says he is losing his daughter and he knows Scott is losing her too. Scott asks him to trust them to fix it. Chris say he will but insists they take his car because it is faster. Stiles' dad comes in after Lydia leaves. He asks if there is "anything there," meaning is there a chance for a Stiles and Lydia relationship. Stiles says no because she is in love with someone else. The Sheriff sits next to his son and explains that while getting beaten up and Jackson dying has him shaken up, Stiles should be happy about one thing, he single handedly won the game. He says that the game was pretty much over and then Stiles got the ball, started running, and scored and that turned the entire tide of the game. His father says he was a hero. Stiles demurs and denies that he is a hero._**

"Pretty sure you were the match hero there" Isaac pointed out. "Not the hero I meant" Stiles says with a smile.

 ** _In the Beacon Hills Warehouse District, Chris, Isaac and Scott pull up in the SUV. Isaac points out that Jackson has stopped moving. Derek comes bounding down the street in a werewolf leap/run on all fours. Peter, hiding in the shadows makes a snide comment about how someone certainly enjoys making an entrance._**

"He does seem to do that a lot" Scott realizes. "Must be a dominance show thing or something" Stiles shrugged.

 ** _They move Jackson inside one of the warehouses. Scott wants to know why Peter and Lydia are not there. Derek ignores him and begins to unzip the bag. Scott protests that they promised to save him but Derek says they're now past that. He unzips the bag and the cocoon is gone. Jackson, in half kanima form, lies still with eyes closed. Derek explains that Gerard has set all of this – Jackson's self-inflicted wound and death – into motion so that Jackson would become more powerful. Chris disagrees saying if Jackson's a dog, he's turning rabid and his father would not allow a rabid dog to live. Gerard agrees, appearing in the doorway he says that anything that dangerous, that out of control is better off dead. Derek draws back his arm to thrust his claws into Jackson's chest but Jackson moves first, stabbing his claws into Derek's chest. One handed, he lifts Derek off his feet as he stands up. He then hurls the Alpha into the next room._**

"Déjà vu" Peter mutters.

 ** _Gerard congratulates Scott explaining that he expected Scott to bring Jackson to Derek to save him meaning Gerard could find the Alpha. Allison fires a bolt from her crossbow. Scott ducks and the bolt strikes Isaac. Scott rushes to help Isaac and Chris fires several shots at Jackson. The bullets don't seem to hurt him but it does trigger his transformation from half to full Kanima form. He whips out his tail, wraps it around Chris' gun and disarms him. Chris runs away to get into a better defensive position against the creature; he turns armed only with a knife and faces it. Jackson bats him away easily._**

"Well we already saw that, that was useless" Stiles said remembering Allison trying something similar.

 ** _Derek confronts the Kanima in his wolf form. Scott and Isaac also wolf out and prepare to do battle. They all get some good shots in but ultimately the Kanima bests them. Scott is thrown into the wall and Derek is clawed and partially paralyzed. Isaac rises to return to the fray but Allison, armed with a knife in each hand, gets in his way. She slashes him in the gut and then spins to stab both knives into his back. Isaac collapses on the floor as she withdraws the knives dripping with his blood. She is heading toward Derek when the Kanima disarms her and grabs her throat._**

"Now if you didn't attack me back then, I could have actually saved you" Isaac said slowly. Allison ducked her head.

 ** _Gerard walks from the shadows saying "not yet sweetheart," Suddenly the pieces seem to fall into place, Scott says he's doing what he came here to do. Gerard has cancer. Scott smelled it on him the night the old man stabbed him outside the hospital. Gerard's plan was to get Derek in a position where he would have to bite him in order to cure the cancer. He threatens to have the Kanima kill Allison unless Scott helps him. It's clear he plans to kill Derek once he transforms so that Gerard would be an Alpha. Gerard admits as much and says if Scott helps him he can have Allison. He mocks Derek saying he simply cannot compete with young love. Scott grabs the paralyzed Derek's head and holds his mouth open while Gerard inserts his arm._**

"SCOTT NO!" the room yell in unison making the werewolf in question flinch.

 ** _Something is wrong. The bite marks on Gerard's arm start oozing black goo just as Jackson did when Derek bit him. The old man has black goo coming out his eyes and nose now. Scott reveals that once he smelled the cancer he figured out what Gerard was after. He and Dr. Deaton conspired to switch Gerard's pills with capsules filled with Mountain Ash powder. The effect seems to be that Gerard's body is violently rejecting the werewolf bite. He spews a torrent of black goo into the air and collapses to the floor._**

"SCOTT YES!" the room cheer in unison making him flinch again.

 ** _Derek is all like "Why didn't you tell me?" and Scott says "Because you might be an Alpha but you're not mine."_**

"oooooh burn" Stiles whoops.

 ** _Gerard is incensed. Still spitting black goo, he screams at the Kanima to "kill them all" but once he collapses, the creature loosens its grip on Allison and she elbows it in the face. It throws her to the floor just as Stiles and Lydia come crashing through the wall in his Jeep. Stiles has his eyes closed but he manages to swerve and get a bead on the Kanima, slamming into it at full speed._**

"GO STILES!" the room cheers making Stiles snort in amusement.

 ** _The kanima is back up in seconds. He leaps to the hood of the Jeep. Lydia jumps out with Stiles following. She confronts the Kanima, calling him "Jackson". He draws back a clawed hand as if to strike. Stiles rushes back toward her but Scott holds him back. Lydia stands her ground and presents Jackson's key. The Kanima stops. He stares at the key and somewhere inside the creature's mind, Jackson's memories begin to flood back._**

"Ah young love" Peter sighs dreamily. "Creep" Erica mutters a bit loudly and his mood is ruined.

 ** _He and Lydia are in bed together. He rolls off her and reaches to the side of the bed. He returns with the key saying that it's to the front door. She teases him that he is just making her a more accessible midnight booty call. He teases back "midnight, mid-afternoon, mid-morning" he kisses her shoulder and as they cuddle and look contented._**

"I remember this" Lydia said with a smile, a single tear running down her face.

 ** _Back in the warehouse, Jackson has transformed back into his half Kanima form. He takes the key from Lydia; his eyes revert to human and he takes several steps back. He spreads his arms and closes his eyes._**

 ** _Seeing their chance, Peter springs from the shadows and Derek from the floor. Derek plunges his claws into Jackson's abdomen while Peter gets him from behind. They lift him off the floor between them and Derek slashes up. Jackson coughs and falls to his knees. Lydia rushes forward to catch him and they kneel together. He asks, "do you still..." and she quickly says "I do, I do still love you" several times. He closes his eyes and collapses on her shoulder, dead. The key drops to the floor._**

"Not cool guys. Not cool at all" Stiles mutters looking a bit uncomfortable.

 ** _As Lydia lays the dead boy down on the concrete the last trace of Kanima scales vanish from his face is an electric blue haze. Allison notices Gerard is gone. Lydia stands up and turns away from Jackson. She begins to weep and Stiles starts forward to comfort her but then stops. Jackson's clawed hand is moving scraping the concrete. Lydia spins around in time to see the wounds on his abdomen heal themselves. His eyes flash open, they are a brilliant blue._**

"Guess he is one of us now" Laura said with a sigh. "I think he would actually make a good werewolf" Scott said with a smile. "What makes you say that?" Peter asks. Scott shrugs, "call it a gut feeling" he says. Talia looked at Scott with a smile on her face, like she just found a valuable treasure.

 ** _He rises slowly from the floor, his naked form silhouetted in the glare from the Jeep's headlights. Once he is upright, his head snaps back. He has the heavy brow, long sideburns and sharp teeth of a werewolf. He lets out a deep growl. Then he is suddenly human shaped once again. He and Lydia embrace. Stiles is crying. He tells Scott that Jackson scratched his jeep._**

"That's what you care about? You little jeep!? Not that a man just returned from the dead and is reunited with is love? Typical men" Laura says with an eye roll.

 ** _Allison apologizes to Scott. He accepts. She breaks up with him and he says that's okay because he can wait. Scott says he'll wait because he knows they're going to be together. Allison says there's no such thing as fate. To which Scott replies, there's no such thing as werewolves. A single tear runs down her cheek and he wipes it away with his thumb. They kiss and Scott leaves as Chris enters her room. Father and daughter embrace._**

"That has got to be one of the best break ups in history" Erica says, wiping her eyes with her shirt.

 ** _Boyd and Erica run through the woods. Suddenly a bunch of people with claws surrounds them. The full moon rises overhead and we hear a howl._**

"That can't be good" Talia narrowed her eyes.

 ** _Outside the warehouse, Dr. Deaton, dressed in a black leather jacket and black leather gloves, examines a trail of black goo that seems to be left from Gerard's escape. Ms. Morrell, also sporting a black leather coat and knee high boots and shows up and questions him about getting involved. He says he does what he has to. She says she's glad because she never liked him being retired anyway. He wonders aloud "whoever said I was retired?"_**

"Witch doctor back in business baby" Isaac cheered earning a snort from Boyd.

 ** _After daylight, Derek, Isaac and Peter arrive outside Hale House. There is a mark painted on the front door. It is a swastika-like spiral pattern. Peter explains that this is why Derek was so eager to build his pack and his power. It is the mark of an Alpha Pack, a literal pack of Alpha Werewolves. They have come to Beacon Hills because according to Peter they have taken notice of the new Alpha in the area._**

"I have never seen an Alpha pack before. What are they like?" Laura asked her mother. "Dangerous" was all Talia said, eyes still narrow with hints of red in them.

 ** _Stiles and Scott head to the lacrosse field. Scott says that he knows Allison will come back to him. Stiles explains that his 10 year plan to make Lydia fall in love with him may now have to stretch to fifteen but the plan is definitely still in motion._**

All the ladies snort at this. All but a certain strawberry blonde.

 ** _Scott suggests that he simply ask her out. Stiles laughs and tells Scott to just get in the goal and help him practice so that he can become team captain. Stiles makes a big deal out of the fact that Scott has promised no werewolf powers during their training. Scott agrees but then his eyes glow yellow as Stiles lobs the first ball toward the goal. Once the image has gone black, we hear Stiles' voice saying: "I said no wolf powers!"_**

There was a sudden burst of bright light as Sky appeared again. _"So that marks the end of your second year of an important part of your life. Like before, I have come to ask again, who are willing to stay and who would like to go away. Back to their mundane lives?"_ Sky said waiting for them to answer. The crowd look at each other, as if going through some silent conversation. They all nod and look at Sky coming to a decision.


	28. 3-0

**_~~Previosuly~~_**

 _There was a sudden burst of bright light as Sky appeared again._ _"So that marks the end of your second year of an important part of your life. Like before, I have come to ask again, who are willing to stay and who would like to go away. Back to their mundane lives?"_ _Sky said waiting for them to answer. The crowd look at each other, as if going through some silent conversation. They all nod and look at Sky coming to a decision._

 ** _~~Now~~_**

"We would all like to stay" Noah spoke on behalf of everyone in the room. _"You all sure?"_ Sky asked. "Dude the whole thing is getting heated up! I'll be damned if I didn't watch till the end now" Laura said with a laugh. "What the she wolf said" Stiles added, earning him a wink from said she wolf making him blush. Sky watched the short give and take with a snort, _"Alright flirters calm them hormones"_ he said. The two blushed at that making the strawberry blonde a bit jealous and confused as to why she was being jealous. _"Any who, let's begin shall we?"_ Sky smirked and the screen sizzled to life as he disappeared.


	29. 3-1

**_An unidentified young woman revives an unconscious Isaac Lahey using a car battery and jumper cables. His body is covered in bloody slashes. There are also deep punctures in his neck. The girl explains that it's "from their claws" and that it's how they share and steal memories._**

"Holy crap what the fuck happened to you!?" Scott asked with slacked jaws. "I would say I got jumped by something" Isaac pointed out. "Things" Erica corrected referring to the unknown woman's words.

 ** _She manages to get Isaac onto a motorcycle and races off into the night. Isaac says he hears someone coming and we see two shadowy figures on foot gaining on the bike. Two men, identical twins, slash and grab for Isaac, their eyes glowing the red of Alpha werewolves._**

"Twin Alpha's? Now that's very very rare" Talia said with a raised eyebrow.

 ** _The girl manages to elude them briefly by crashing through a large window into a warehouse but then Isaac, close to unconsciousness, overbalances the bike sending them skidding in a shower of sparks._**

"Nice way of ruining your way out" Stiles rolls his eyes. "Sorry okay. Next time I'll try not to bleed out and lose consciousness" Isaac threw back in a sarcastic tone.

 ** _The twins enter through the broken window. One kneels, the other slams his fist into the kneeling twin's back and the two begin to merge into one giant figure. This new "mega-alpha" stalks toward Isaac growling._**

"Okay what is this sorcery!?" Peter yells. "I didn't know you could do that" Derek said, eyes widened in shock. "Did you know mom?" Laura turned to her mother to see that she too was in shock.

 ** _The girl pulls a weapon and fires a large projectile into the giant's chest. When it makes contact the creature is consumed in electric current and falls into two distinct individuals who lay twitching on the floor in a blinding flash of electricity._**

"Well that was anti climatic" Scott sighed. He was secretly excited to see what the twin menace could do.

 ** _In a Tattoo Parlor in another part of town, Stiles jokes that Scott should get a tattoo of a lizard creature that looks suspiciously like the Kanima. He then questions the meaning of his friend's choice to get two simple black bands permanently inked around his arm._**

"Oh no way am I letting you get a tattoo" Melissa glared at her son. "Oh don't worry Melissa, it won't last" Talia smirked knowingly.

 ** _Scott says he doesn't know why he likes the design but that the act of getting a tattoo has meaning in itself. The tattoo artist then provides a brief history of the art saying it goes back "thousands of years". He explains that the Tahitian word for tattoo means "to leave a mark," like a rite of passage._**

"The guy makes it seem like getting a tattoo is like a mark of adulthood" Claudia points out. "In some clans, the tattoo is just that. A sign that means that you are now seen as an adult" Boyd explained.

 ** _Once the process begins, Stiles faints._**

"Of course I would" Stiles groaned. "Oh don't worry Stiles, not everyone is made to see blood and gore" Laura teased making the boy groan again.

 ** _In the Jeep later, Stiles holds an ice pack to his head and Scott's arm is heavily bandaged. He says it burns and the pain becomes so bad he rips off the bandage just in time to see the tattoo fade as his werewolf healing kicks in. Stiles says he hated the tattoo._**

"I mean it's just too simple to catch an eye" Isaac said with a shrug.

 ** _Lydia and Allison are driving, heading for a "group thing" and, Lydia promises, not a double date. Allison says she's not ready to get back out there and Lydia ridicules her for not dating at all while she was in France for "four months". Allison turns the question back on her asking if she dated after… Lydia cuts her off with a hasty "could you not say his name." They are talking about Jackson and Allison asks if he is okay, if everything worked out. Lydia explains that the doctors looked like total idiots after he turned up alive. She says Derek taught him the Werewolf 101 like how NOT to randomly kill people during the full moon._**

"Good for you Derek. Helping the poor and needy" Laura said cheerily, slapping him on the back. "Jackson is in no way poor. Needy yes, but not poor" Lydia said with a snort.

 ** _Lydia says she hasn't talked to him since his dad moved him to London making a joke that an "American werewolf in London" will be a disaster._**

"Isn't that like a movie from way back in the 80's?" Melissa asked receiving nods from the older generation.

 ** _She then admits that they are actually going on a double date but "it's not an orgy."_**

"Give it a few hours and lots of alcohol and it would be just that" Stiles grumbled and felt a pillow hit him on the back of his head. He turned around to see that Lydia was giving him an evil smirk as more pillows seemed to be popping out from nowhere. He gulped and decided to stay quiet for now.

 ** _Scott and Stiles pull up beside the girls who have stopped for a light. They too are discussing relationships, specifically how Scott is giving Allison the space she asked for. He hasn't called or texted all summer. He says he's not sure she'll return to Beacon Hills at all after all that happened._**

"Boy are you wrong" Peter snorted.

 ** _At that moment Stiles notices Allison and Lydia in the next car and says he is 100% sure she will be back._**

"See Stiles has more faith in me than you" Allison joked, poking his arm. Scott rolled his eyes and kissed her head as the couple resumed their watch.

 ** _Allison urges Lydia to run the red light so she can avoid talking to Scott. Once the light changes, Stiles continues down the road but stops once Scott points out it looks like they're following the girls. Once Stiles stops, Allison decides that she should talk to Scott and so Lydia stops in the road too._**

"You two are so..urgh" Lydia groaned not finding the right words.

 ** _While they're deciding if they should talk to the boys, a deer runs straight into Lydia's car shattering the windshield. Everybody freaks out. Lydia says she saw its eyes before it hit and it looked like it was crazy. Scott touches the deer and senses that it was terrified._**

"Déjà vu much?" Scott said with a raised eyebrow, remembering something from the night he was turned.

 ** _At the hospital, Melissa McCall sees Isaac as he rolls in on a gurney. She asks him if he's not "healing" he assures her that he will but that "the girl" needs her help more. Melissa leaves his side to attend to the Mysterious Girl who saved Isaac earlier. On the gurney she babbles that she needs to find the Alpha. Melissa mentions Derek but the girl says no. Once she is out of Melissa's hearing, she says "not Hale, McCall. Scott McCall"_**

"But I'm not an Alpha" Scott says in confusion. "The lady is probably delirious from whatever injuries she has" Allison told her boyfriend.

 ** _That morning Scott is working out in his room. One armed pull-ups while reading "Call of the Wild" by Jack London. Among the other books he's apparently read this summer are_**

 ** _"Great Expectations" by Charles Dickens_**

 ** _"A Farewell to Arms" by Ernest Hemingway_**

 ** _"The Longest Journey" by E. M. Forster_**

 ** _"White Fang" by Jack London_**

 ** _"Absalom, Absalom!" by William Faulkner_**

 ** _"For Whom the Bell Tolls" by Ernest Hemingway_**

 ** _"The Snows of Kilimanjaro" by Ernest Hemingway_**

"Holy shit dude" Stiles said in shock, his jaws dropping. "That's way too many books" Lydia says, eyes wide in shock. "Good books" Chris shrugged.

 ** _While he's working out, his computer beeps. On the screen we see the wallpaper is a shot of him and Allison. On top of this an internet window is open with a "Word of the Day" site displayed. Today's word is "Ephemeral" with the Adjective definition "Lasting for a very short time," the Noun definition "An Ephemeral Plant" and the Synonyms "transitory, transient, momentary, short-lived"._**

"Nerd" Stiles teased his friend who watched in shock.

 ** _Scott reads the top definition and a couple of the synonyms aloud and looks longingly at the space on his arm where his tattoo used to be. At the Argent's new apartment, unpacked boxes fill Allison's bedroom._**

"We moved?" Allison asked in surprise. Chris shrugged, "I guess we did".

 ** _Chris walks in and says she doesn't have to go back to school if she's not ready. She says she is going since she's driving Lydia after her car was wrecked. Stiles is at his computer researching Deer/Car collisions and his dad literally pulls him away from the screen._**

"Gently!" Claudia said almost instinctively and then blushed when her husband snorted.

 ** _Lydia is putting on lipstick and tries on a leather jacket._**

"I look god" Lydia said with a smile.

 ** _She is admiring herself in the mirror when an unidentified boy in her bed tells her it looks good on her. She promptly takes it off._**

"Oh my god" she groaned.

 ** _He asks if they can go on a "real date" sometime to which Lydia responds with a negative "hmmm." He then asks if they can have sex again to which Lydia offers a more positive "hmmm."_**

"So to cover the hole Jackson left, you are whoring yourself out here?" Stiles asked incredulously to a blushing Lydia.

 ** _Scott arrives at school on his green dirt bike with a number 32 on the front. He seems pleased with his bike until he sees two bikes parked nearby. Scott mentions to Stiles that he wants to ask Derek about the tattoo thing because Derek obviously overcame the healing issue to get his. Stiles points to two "Missing Persons" posters featuring Erica and Boyd pinned to the bulletin board and says Derek has his hands full._**

"We're missing?" Erica squeaked. Boyd shrugs, "Guess that alpha pack has us".

 ** _In the School office, we see the former principal last seen being tortured by the Argents. He is discussing the applications for the new "Career Adviser" and saying that whatever happened to the library while he was gone needs to be fixed. He then holds up a long sword and demands to know "What the hell is this!"._**

"That sir is a long sword which crazy grampy used to cleave werewolves in half" Stiles answered like he was in class or something.

 ** _Lydia is admiring all the freshmen or "fresh men" as she says it. Allison points out that they are "fresh boys" and are age 14. Lydia dismisses this saying some are more mature than others. Allison points out that they can be single and take the time to focus on themselves. Lydia says she doesn't want a boyfriend she wants a distraction._**

"Hmm" Lydia says in a deep voice.

 ** _Lydia and Allison see the twin Alphas we saw chasing Isaac last night walk into the school hallway in motorcycle gear and suddenly we are in the hospital with the Mystery Girl who opens her eyes and gasps in shock and fear._**

"oooh this is bad" Laura hisses.

 ** _Melissa McCall slowly removes Isaac's bloody bandages revealing four deep gouges across his chest and side. The wounds are smoking slightly and Melissa declares they are healing. She worries that someone will see it especially when they take him in for surgery that he's not going to need. He urges her to do something but she points out that she's still new to all the supernatural stuff. She's tried calling Derek "five times" and asks if he has any other "emergency werewolf contacts" and he says to call Scott._**

"Dude! I'm just as clueless as you are" Scott says with a sigh.

 ** _In the hallway Sheriff Stilinski tells Melissa that he needs to ask the Mystery Girl some questions. He describes the weapon she used as a "modified stun gun" and says she caused $10 thousand in property damages. Melissa says the girl is heavily sedated but at the same time we see the girl has removed her IV and is no longer receiving the sedative._**

"The hospital security sucks" Scott pointed out.

 ** _At school, Allison walks into Ms. Blake's English class and finds all the seats taken except the one directly in front of Scott. She reluctantly takes the seat. All the students phones begin to chime at once all with the same text message. Ms. Blake enters reading the text from her phone –_**

 ** _"The offing was barred by a black bank of clouds, and the tranquil waterway leading to the uttermost ends of the earth flowed sombre under an overcast sky – seemed to lead into the heart of an immense darkness."_**

"Those words sound nice" Talia hummed.

 ** _She explains that it is the closing line to the first book they will be reading in her class and that it will also be the last text any of them receive in her class. She instructs them to turn off their phones. Scott complies._**

"Well that's one way of making an impression on the class. Feed their curiosity to gain their attention" Peter said.

 ** _Scott's mom is trying to reach him by phone at that moment and gets voice mail. A nurse enters Isaac's room and injects an anesthetic into his IV saying "We don't want you getting away again". As the drug takes hold Isaac notices that she is barefoot and that each toe is capped by a sharp black claw. She then counts him down to unconsciousness ticking off numbers on claw topped fingers as her eyes begin to glow red._**

"The Alpha pack is after Isaac too? But why?" Laura asked in confusion. "Maybe he is after the Hale pack and are taking out the betas to cut off Derek's power" Allison suggested. "Possible" Derek muttered.

 ** _Allison passes Scott a note that reads "Can we talk?" As he is replying, the principal enters Ms. Blake's classroom and she calls Scott to the hall. She explains that his mother needs him to leave school but adds that she is aware of his poor school record and wants to warn him "in the nicest possible way" not to slip back into old ways. He says he won't but she says resolutions are only good if you stick with them. He promises he will and won't be "ephemeral."_**

"Look at you! Using such complex words" Stiles laughed.

 ** _The nurse with the claws comes into the Mystery Girl's hospital room and finds the bed empty and a deputy handcuffed to the bed. She growls deep in her throat. Lydia has a bandage on her leg. Stiles asks about as they sit in Ms. Blake's class. She says her dog, Prada, bit her. Stiles says that animals, Prada and the deer, seem to be freaking out the way they do when they sense an earthquake. He says maybe it means something bad is coming._**

"How is it most of the time that the human figures stuff out before the non-humans?" Laura asked receiving shrugs from the rest.

 ** _Lydia brings up the rule of threes. That is, bad things happen in groups of three. She begins to count and when she hits three, a bird smacks into the closed window leaving a smear of blood and feathers._**

"Well superstitions do come true. Never cutting my nails on a Thursday again" Isaac muttered.

 ** _Ms. Blake turns from the blackboard where she was assigning homework that is "due Friday". She crosses to the window and spots a huge flock of black birds coming toward the school. They begin to strike the windows until a few break through. Then it's chaos in the room with live birds scratching and pecking at students and smashing into walls and dying._**

"But that is a bad sign. Something big is coming to Beacon hills. And I don't think it's the Alpha pack" Talia said with a low growl.

 ** _Scott and his mother race down the hospital hallway, Melissa says she selfishly didn't call Scott first because she recognizes how hard he's been working with the extra reading and "summer school and saving money for the motorbike and doesn't want the supernatural crazy to interfere with everything he is accomplishing. Scott says he won't stop, vowing to be "a better student, a better son, a better friend, a better everything."_**

"Aww Scott" Erica coos much to his embarrassment.

 ** _Scott heads to the elevator to find Isaac but the doors are stopped before they can close by what appears to be a blind man's cane._**

"Him" Talia and Peter thought with a growl.

 ** _A man in dark glasses with a British accent enters and asks Scott to press the second floor. When Scott tries to exit on the floor – the blind man asks for his help and grabs his shoulder aiming to use him as a guide. Scott reluctantly complies. Isaac is already in surgery. His wounds have completely healed and the Doctor is angry telling the orderly to get him out of the operating room. The orderly wheels Isaac away and we see he has claws protruding through his surgical gloves._**

"Well this is not gonna end good for future me" Isaac squeaks.

 ** _Scott arrives just in time to see the orderly wheeling Isaac into the elevator. Scott senses that he is another werewolf and dives headlong toward the closing elevator doors. He lands in a heap with claws and fangs bared. They fight with the orderly quickly gaining and maintaining the upper hand. He slams Scott into the ceiling and the floor several times and informs him that he is dealing with an Alpha. At that moment the doors open, Derek claws the guy in the back and says "So am I" and throws the guy out of the elevator and across the hall where he seems to land unconscious._**

"Wooo Derek!" Laura and Stiles cheer.

 ** _Turning to Scott, Derek deadpans "Aren't you supposed to be in school?"._**

The room snorts in unison.

 ** _In the aftermath of the bird incident, the Sheriff and Allison's dad are both at school. The sheriff approaches Argent about the animal weirdness and Chris demurs saying he's not a hunter anymore._**

"You quit? Why!?" Allison asked her father. Chris said nothing but Peter did, "The man lost his wife and almost lost his daughter. What would you have done to keep the last of your family safe?" he asked with a raised eyebrow. Allison nodded and shrunk a little for asking a stupid question.

 ** _Scott, Derek and an unconscious Isaac have made it to Hale House. Scott tells Stiles by phone to join them there. Derek says he doesn't live there anymore and that the county has taken over the house. He is digging around the hole in the floor where Peter was buried. He says there's something he needs to help Isaac heal the wounds from an Alpha on "the inside." He pulls out several wolfsbane plants and lays them on the table next to the still unconscious Isaac. Derek explains that the Alpha in the elevator is from a "rival pack" but stops there and says it's his problem and tells Scott to go home and "back to being a teenager." Remember his tattoo problem, Scott asks Derek to help._**

"Derek really stopped seeing you as a part of his pack then. Or rather stopped trying to recruit you" Allison muttered to her boyfriend who nodded.

 ** _Lydia tells Allison that Beacon Hills is turning into "Beacon for the totally bizarre and supernatural." The Mystery Girl approaches them and asks for Scott. She grabs both their forearms but sees the twins at the end of the hallway and runs away. Lydia notices that there is a bruise-like mark on her forearm where the girl grabbed them. Chris Argent arrives to take them home. He reassures Allison that they are staying out of the supernatural nonsense. Sheriff Stilinski visits Dr. Deaton saying they've gotten 15 calls in an hour about animals freaking out. Dr. Deaton takes him back to the cat cages where every single animal is dead. The Vet says he thought someone broke in and did it but then realized the animals killed themselves._**

"Animal suicide? Man this is freaky" Stiles shivered.

 ** _Back at Hale House, Derek is looking at Scott's arm. His eyes glow red and he says he can "see" Scott's healed tattoo. Scott explains that in Samoan tattoo means "open wound." He says he planned to get it when he was 18 but decided to get it after he successfully didn't text or call Allison all summer. He says four months later his feelings for her still hurt like an open wound._**

"SO that's your reason" Stiles says unimpressed. Allison on the other hand shrunk more into herself. Scott put an arm around her, and she leaned into him to find comfort.

 ** _Derek lights a blow torch and says he needs Stiles to help hold Scott down. He then applies the torch to Scott's arm which begins to sear and burn. Scott's eyes go yellow and his fangs come out._**

"Holy shit" Boyd jumps out of his seat in surprise. "That's kinda wicked" Stiles mutters.

 ** _At some point he lost consciousness and when he comes around he sees that his tattoo is now fully visible and the skin around it seems to have healed from the torch. Stiles points out that it looks permanent. Scott says they need something like that because everything they've gone through, everything changes so fast. He says it's all so ephemeral to which Stiles says "Studying for the PSATs?". Scott says yes._**

"You're like a parrot" Stiles shook his head while Scott chuckled.

 ** _Scott then notices a new coat of paint on the Hale House door. Thinking that Derek did it to hide something, he claws the paint off revealing the Alpha Pack symbol. Scott connects the weird animal behavior to the way the deer reacted the night he got bitten by the Alpha. He realizes there must be more than one Alpha to inspire such fear in the wildlife. Derek says there is a pack of them. Stiles questions how that would even work and Derek says seems not to know much saying "I hear there's some kind of a leader" he says the leader is called Deucalion._**

"This Deu something lion guy sounds like a moster if he can keep other Alpha's in check" Scott mutters. "Deucalion. And you're right. He is very strong" Talia corrected.

 ** _He explains that the Pack has Boyd and Erica and that he, Peter and Isaac have been looking for them. Derek says he'll need all the help he can get to deal with the Alpha Pack. Isaac then regains consciousness and asks about the whereabouts of the Mystery Girl. The Mystery Girl has made it to the locker room at school. She breaks off a broom handle and wields it as a staff weapon. She is quickly surrounded. The twins, the nurse who drugged Isaac and the orderly who attacked Scott are all taking turns slicing at the girl. The nurse lands the decisive blow sending out a spray of blood and sending the girl to the floor where she does not get back up._**

"That was brutal" Erica flinched thinking what the pack had done to them.

 ** _The blind man we saw earlier wipes blood from his hands, picks up his cane and puts his glasses on over eyes that appear to be Alpha red with a silvered iris. He approaches the girl, calls her "beautiful but defiant". She says she is defiant because she knows he is afraid of Scott, "of the man he'll become." The Alpha says he is aware of a certain "potential threat" but says he plans to get someone else to eliminate that threat for him. She surmises that Derek will be that "someone else." He then slashes at the girl viciously. We barely see the blow connect but we see blood spray across the lockers nearby._**

"What potential threat? Scott doesn't stand a chance here. And Derek will not kill him" Laura says in anger. Talia nods, "you are correct. But I wonder what happened to his eyes" she asked with narrowed eyes.

 ** _Lydia is helping Allison pick out wall colors for her new room when they notice that the bruises the girl gave them on their forearms make a symbol when placed side by side. The same symbol is on the floor in what appears to be a bank vault. A male figure sits hunched, leaning on a column and rocking slightly. As the shot zooms in we see a smaller, female, hand cover his and clasp tightly._**

"That might be us" Erica pointed to the screen Boyd thought differently but didn't say much. "The hand didn't look like Erica's: he thought with fear rolling coursing his veins.


	30. 3-2

**_Lydia traces a line with a pen around the bruise the Mysterious Girl left on her arm in Tattoo. She holds it up to the identical mark on Allison's arm and says she fails to see a pattern._**

"It's just weird scribbles" Laura squints, trying to get a better view of it. "Oh I don't know" Talia said with a smile. "But you do know don't you" Peter smirked. Talia shrugged and returned his smirk with one of her own.

 ** _They are driving to find Scott because Allison believes he might know what the symbol means. Stiles has talked Scott into attending his childhood friend Heather's 17th birthday party. Scott is reluctant because it seems weird to him to go to a different high school's party._**

"Yeah dude why are you even doing that?" Isaac asked.

 ** _Stiles explains that he went to nursery school with Heather and that she promised to introduce the pair to all of her friends. Stiles thinks this will be an excellent opportunity for Scott and him to move on from Allison and Lydia._**

"That's why" Isaac snorted a laugh.

 ** _Scott notices a missed call from Allison on his phone. Inside the party, Heather and her friend Danielle are toasting blue Solo cups for her birthday. Heather intimates that she is planning to have sex for the first time tonight. Danielle reminds her that her first time is "sorta gross and kinda hurts." Heather says when she eventually falls in love she wants to be "good at it."_**

"Poor whoever she has her first time with" Stiles said in a sad tone.

 ** _When the boys enter, Heather leaps at Stiles, kissing him deeply and asking him to come with her to the basement to get wine._**

"Of course it would be me" he groaned while his mother patted his back reassuringly.

 ** _Once in the cellar she kisses him again. She explains her plan to lose her virginity, taking off her shoes and kissing him deeply again. They discuss the fact that they are both virgins and agree to move forward. Stiles doesn't have a condom, Heather sends him to the upstairs bathroom to find some her brother keeps there. Allison and Lydia have found the party. Scott meets them outside and they show him the bruises._**

"Yeah just as clueless as you two are" Scott chuckled.

 ** _Stiles finds the condoms but they are SMITH-BRIAR brand "XXL Large Size Condoms." He glances down at his crotch with a look of comical fear._**

"Oooh Stiles" Laura purred. Stiles blushed a deep shade of red while the room burst into laughter.

 ** _In the wine cellar, Heather is wandering barefoot when suddenly all the bottles on all the racks begin to shake. A single bottle then slowly screws itself from its holder and smashes to the floor. Panting, Heather rushes around that rack to see who pushed the bottle, there is no one there. Another bottle fires like a bullet from a rack behind her. More bottles begin to explode as she screams. She cuts her feet on the shards of bottle glass on the floor as the room runs red with blood and spilled wine. Behind her one of the high set windows begins to open on its own. She is suddenly jerked out of the room through the window._**

"What the hell just happened here?" Erica asked, summing up the opinion of everyone in the room.

 ** _Stiles returns to find Heather gone. There is no wine or broken glass visible on the floor which just moments before was littered with both. Stiles finds only Heather's discarded shoe as the window closes slowly behind him._**

"Are we going to deal with some kind of ghost too? Oh God we need a priest!" Stiles suddenly screamed. "Shut up!" Laura snapped.

 ** _Isaac paces near the large wall sized window in Derek's loft apartment. Derek is planning to have Peter Hale drop by to attempt to retrieve the memories Isaac lost in the events prior to last week's episode. The process of retrieval is to plunge claws into the back of the neck to share memories as we saw with Scott and Peter previously._**

"Well that's brutal. And there are no risks?" Isaac asked Peter who did not answer.

 ** _Isaac says he doesn't like the idea and he doesn't like Peter but Derek explains he doesn't know how to do it so they have to get goes on to say that Scott doesn't trust Peter and that he, Isaac, trusts Scott. Derek wants to know if he has Isaac's trust. He says yes but repeats that he doesn't like Peter. Derek says nobody likes Peter._**

"Rude" Peter grumbles.

 ** _Peter enters and says that - while coming back from the dead has left his abilities somewhat impaired - his hearing still works. He says that he hopes both the others are comfortable expressing their feelings straight to his face – to which Derek says "We don't like you."_**

"Oh Derek" Laura laughed and the rest joined in while Peter pouted.

 ** _Peter explains that the claw to the neck thing is an ancient ritual used mainly by Alphas since it is a skill that requires quite a bit of practice. He says one slip could paralyze someone or kill them. He then plunges his claws into Isaac's neck. Peter's eyes glow blue as Isaac begins to kick and struggle._**

"Dude what the fuck!? Where was the warning? If that thing kills me I will kill you now" Isaac growls. Peter rolls his eyes, "You'll live".

 ** _He sees a series of blurry images. One is Boyd, another is Deucalion. Peter explains that Isaac did find them. He saw bare glimpses and heard them talking about time running out. Deucalion apparently promised that they would both be dead by the full moon – tomorrow night._**

"That looked more like implanted memories than Isaac's own. Like a letter of threat to Derek" Allison pointed out. Derek nodded, "That's because it is one".

 ** _At school, Scott makes Derek look at the matching bruises on Allison and Lydia. Derek says it's nothing. Lydia says it's Pareidolia a mental condition that causes people to see patterns that aren't there. Scott says the girls are just trying to help. Derek balks at this pointing to Lydia and saying "this one who used me to resurrect my psychotic uncle. Thank you." He points to Allison, "and this one who shot about thirty arrows into me and my pack."_**

"When you say it like that" Lydia drawled.

 ** _Stiles points out that, while there may have been mangling and maiming, there was no death associated with all that Lydia and Allison were involved. Allison quickly points out that her mother died. Derek says her death was due to the Argent family honor code and not his actions._**

"That is also true" Allison said in a quiet voice.

 ** _Allison says she's there to help Scott not Derek. He says they need to find something "real" if they want to help him. Scott takes Derek aside and asks that he give Allison a chance saying that she is on their side now. Derek says then maybe Scott should clue her in on what her mother was actually trying to do the night he bit her._**

"You didn't tell me? Why!?" Allison asked a bit surprised. "I guess I just wanted you to remember you mother not as a psycho? I don't know" he shrugged.

 ** _Later, near the lacrosse field, Stiles is trying to figure out what the Alpha Pack wants with Erica and Boyd – Scott says he's not sure the Alphas want them. Stiles then speculates that they may be recruiting Derek. At that moment, The Alpha Twins: Ethan and Aiden pass by. Scott senses something and turns to watch them walk away. He doesn't say what caught his attention. Coach Bobby Finstock is teaching a remarkably simple and yet extremely accurate lesson about the Stock Market and asks on what two principles the market is based. Scott raises his hand and, assuming he couldn't possibly know the answer, Coach says he can be excused to go to the bathroom. Scott persists and provides the correct answer which is "Risk and Reward"._**

"You caught him by surprise I'm sure" Boyd smirked.

 ** _Coach is ecstatic that Scott knows the answer. He then asks the class for a quarter. Stiles is quick to offer one, reaching in his pocket to retrieve the coin. He instead flips the XXL condom from the night before out of his pocket and onto the floor. Coach picks it up, returns it to him and says "congratulations."_**

"Oh my God" Erica bursts into laughter along with the younger kids while the elders chuckled.

 ** _Coach then uses the old drinking game "quarters" to explain the risk and reward principle. If you take the risk and successfully land the quarter in the cup you won't have to take a pop quiz. Danny points out that it's not a "Pop" quiz if they already know about it. Coach challenges Scott to put the quarter in the mug. If he fails – he will have to take the quiz AND write an essay. If he succeeds there will be no extra work. He then explains that there is a third option – not to play at all. Coach then explains that everything Scott knows about himself, his abilities and his past experiences should inform his decision and determine if the risk is worth it. Scott chooses not to play at all._**

"That's actually good life lesson. Well done Coach" Scott smiled.

 ** _Stiles is about to take his turn when his father shows up with the news that Heather has been missing since Stiles saw her last. He had assumed when he couldn't find her that she had simply gone off with other friends._**

"SO ghost still has her. I wonder why though" Stiles mumbled, worried for his childhood friend.

 ** _Allison is still trying to work out the meaning of the symbol drawing it free hand on a piece of paper while looking up "ancient symbols" on the internet on her laptop. The Alpha Twins enter and Lydia says she wants one. When Allison asks "which one?" Lydia explains that she wants the "straight one" obviously. At that moment, Danny enters, notices one of the twins and distractedly bumps into another student. The twin in question seems to notice Danny as well._**

"I smell romance in the air" Lydia said in a sing song voice.

 ** _Allison picks up her logoed coffee cup from Beacon Hills Coffee and Tea and realizes that the mark may not be an ancient symbol but instead a modern logo. She looks up to explain this to Lydia but finds her gone. She and Danny are now chatting up both of the twins separately._**

"My God girl, you wok so fast" Erica moaned, rubbing her forehead. She was very worried about hers and Boyd's safety right now and was really hopping Lydia and Allison would figure things out fast.

 ** _Scott and Stiles speculate that the Alpha Pack may be behind Heather's disappearance but can't come up with a convincing reason why they would want to do that. Stiles seems panicked. He explains that his mom and Heather's mom were best friends. He and Heather grew up together and took bubble baths together when they were 3 years-old so he HAS to find her._**

"Bubble baths are not a valid reason to find someone. But yes you have to find her before something bad happens" Laura says to Stiles who was chewing his nails.

 ** _Scott says they need Isaac to remember and decide if Peter and Derek failed then Dr. Deaton might have some idea of how to help. At the Animal Clinic, Derek, Stiles and Scott empty large bags of ice into a metal bath tub. Dr. Deaton explains that lowering Isaac's temperature will lower his heart rate and help him slip into a trance state - like hypnosis. Deaton says Isaac will be "half transformed" and this will somehow allow them to access his subconscious mind. Deaton says they will slow his heart rate until he is "nearly dead" to get the result they need._**

"Good plan" Peter complimented. Isaac rolled his eyes, "of course it is to you. You're not the one who is gonna be almost dead" he groaned.

 ** _Isaac enters the tub and they get him into a trance. He remembers finding Boyd at the Beacon Hills First National Bank in a vault. He also says he saw Erica's dead body._**

"Oh no" Allison said, hands over her mouth. The whole room look to the sobbing teen. She was curled into a ball against Boyd who was trying to comfort her. It took a while but once she calmed down, they resumed their watch.

 ** _Derek refuses to believe that Erica is dead. If so, they wonder, who was in the vault with Boyd? Scott suggests it might have been the Mystery Girl that saved Isaac in the last episode but Isaac says no that "she wasn't like us and whoever was in the vault with Boyd was."Stiles speculates that the Alpha Pack are pitting the prisoners against each other during the full moons like a "werewolf thunderdome." They set out to make a rescue plan._**

"If that's what they plan, then it's gonna get very bad and very very ugly" Laura said with a shudder. Talia though wondered why Deucalion would even try something like this.

 ** _Allison manages to trace the bruise symbol on her arm to the same bank. Lydia wants to know why she's not reporting what she found to Scott. Echoing Derek, Allison says she needs to find something "real" first._**

"Gee thanks Derek, for sending my girlfriend out to get killed" Scott said with an eye roll.

 ** _At 5:00PM at the Loft, Stiles, Derek, Scott and Peter formulate a plan to break into the vault based on a successful robbery that took places just before the bank closed for good. A narrow air duct leads from the roof into the wall of the vault and from there Derek believes he can use his fist to break through the wall into the bank. When Stiles doubts there is enough room to get enough power behind a punch, Derek demonstrates by punching his hand hard enough to throw him off balance._**

"Dude" Stiles complained while Derek shrugged.

 ** _Derek asks for volunteers to follow him down the shaft into the vault. Peter refuses saying he is still not up to "fighting speed" yet, still recovering from being dead. He then points out the futility of going after the Alpha pack that is super strong. He then reminds them about the twins combining bodies to form "one giant alpha". He is willing to let both Erica and Boyd die rather than fight. Stiles then asks if someone could please kill Peter again._**

"I agree with him" Stiles says. "So you agree with yourself? Nothing new then" Peter sneers. "He isn't the only agreeing party" Isaac and Scott say with a slight growl.

 ** _Derek asks Scott to come and he agrees that they have to try._**

"Thanks Scott" Erica said in a shaky voice. Scott smiled at her, "no need to thank me".

 ** _In the vault, Boyd is pacing and seems agitated. A girl we've never seen before is sitting on the floor nearby._**

"They have Cora!?" Laura growled. Derek blinked before he too began to growl and looked about ready to murder them for hurting his sister. He suddenly felt an arm on his shoulder and he looked to his side to see his mother. "You acting up won't have any effects now. This hasn't happened and it never will. Once you get out, you will find Cora and keep her safe" she said with cold determination. Derek blinked again calming down, "This will never happen. The Hale fire won't happen. You guys were warned" he pointed out. Talia nodded but said nothing.

 ** _Allison takes bolt cutters and cuts the chains off the bank's outer door to gain entry. Once inside she is grabbed by her French Teacher and Guidance Counselor Ms. Morrell. The older woman tells her to hide in a storage room and not to come out until she hears the "fighting start". Allison hides just in time. Deucalion, the female Alpha and another member of the pack walk down the hall. The woman pauses and taps the long claws on her feet for a moment just outside the door. Allison spills ammonia to hide her scent and eventually the Alpha moves on down the hall._**

"That was some good quick thinking" Chris said with pride evident in his voice making Allison break into a huge smile.

 ** _In the room, Allison uses her phone for light and sees what appears to be Erica's corpse propped against a shelf. As she watches, the lifeless body slumps down further._**

The group remain silent, paying their respects to the departed, or at least would be departed soul. "Don't worry. This will never happen. We can change this" Stiles said with a soft smile. Erica nodded meekly but said nothing.

 ** _Peter and Stiles are left at Derek's loft to wait as the others break into the bank. Stiles has the idea that the Alpha Pack might live at the bank which seems odd to him because he figured they would have a lair of some sort. Peter points out that they are werewolves not James Bond villains. Teasing Stiles further, Peter claims to live underground in caves and tunnels. Stiles believes him and Peter scoffs and says he has an apartment downtown._**

"Wait you do?" Laura asked her uncle who shrugged. "Maybe sometime in the future I do".

 ** _Still, Stiles believes their decision to keep their prisoners at the bank must have some significance as must their decision to kill them on the full moon. The fact that they haven't killed them on the previous three full moons sets Peter to thinking and he and Stiles search to find what substance makes up the vault's walls._**

"Why does that matter?" Isaac asked. "Many materials enhance a werewolf's abilities. Or sometimes" she suddenly stopped eyes wide in horror.

 ** _Scott hesitates outside the bank. He says they are not measuring the risk accurately. Specifically he wonders why they've waited so long to kill Boyd. It's been four months since they painted Derek's door – "why the wait" may be the most important missing detail. Derek rushes ahead and Scott follows. Peter realizes that the mineral that makes up the walls of the bank vault, Hecatolite or Moonstone, has been blocking the natural moonlight from reaching the prisoners keeping them from transforming for four months. Peter likens it to starving lions before Roman gladiatorial games so that the beasts would be more vicious and blood thirsty. The pent up energy from all those missed transformations mean Boyd and the girl will lose all control if the moonlight reaches them. Peter says they are the starved lions._**

"Oh shit" Stiles swore. "Does this mean Derek might have to kill them both?" Laura asked in horror. Derek cut in aggressively, "No one is going to die!" he growls. The room goes dead quiet from the sudden outburst of the usually quiet wolf. Only Malia looked at Derek, as if she understood what he might have to go through if he killed the two in the room with his own hands. She sighed and closed her eyes, trying to push back the flashback.

 ** _They call to warn Scott just after he and Derek have broken through into the vault. As the moonlight streams in through the newly punched hole in the wall, Boyd begins to lose control. Derek then sees the girl and says "Cora". She warns Derek to get out. Derek explains to Scott that she is his little sister and he thought she was dead. Just as Boyd and Cora are losing control, Ms. Morrell steps to the vault door and puts the final line of what Scott sees is a complete circle of Mountain Ash powder. The werewolves can't cross the line meaning all four are now trapped inside the vault._**

"I know she is trying to help but damnit woman!" Melissa groaned.

 ** _Deucalion waits outside, folds his cane and says that Ms. Morrell (He calls her Marin) shouldn't kid herself because this isn't the first time she's gotten her "hands dirty". He then takes her arm and she leads him away._**

"Okay I take it back. What the fuck does she think she is doing!?" Melissa shrieked.

 ** _Inside the vault, Boyd and Cora go off on Derek and Scott. Hearing the fight Allison leaves her hiding place. As she reaches the door, Allison sees Boyd has gotten the better of Scott lifting him high in the air with his claws stuck in his belly. She reaches down and, over Derek's objections, breaks the circle of Mountain Ash calling to Boyd as she does it._**

"So she planned all this? Well sorry stranger" Melissa says with a smile while Peter snorts.

 ** _Boyd and Cora flee the vault. Derek is incensed. Scott points out that Allison saved their lives but Derek says she's loosed two killing machines into the world at large._**

"A simple thank you would be nice" Scott glared at Derek. Derek looked at Scott, "I will not repeat myself" was all he said.

 ** _Allison fires back that she is not the one turning teenagers into killers. Derek retorts that she might not but the rest of her family… Allison admits that she's made mistakes but that Gerard is not her fault. Derek verbally strikes again with "What about your mother?" Allison is confused and they both look to Scott demanding that he explain._**

"Well you're in for it now dude" Stiles snickered.

 ** _At Lydia's house she is sleeping when she suddenly jerks and begins screaming and flailing around in her bed._**

"Oddly your screams don't sound human at all. It's more haunting than anything" Laura said with a shiver.


	31. 3-3

**_Two kids, a boy and a girl are hunting fireflies in Beacon Hills Preserve after dark._**

"Aw! This takes me back. Remember we used to the same thing here" Talia smiled at her brother who smiled back at her.

 ** _The full moon shines down on them as Boyd appears out of the darkness. The kids take refuge in a metal shed but the werewolf simply picks it up and tosses it away leaving them exposed._**

"But that never happened before" Peter pointed out jokingly.

 ** _Briefly distracted by a jar full of fireflies that rolls to a stop at his feet, Boyd looks away as the bugs surround him. When he turns his attention back to the children, they're gone._**

"Nature has their own way to protect the innocent huh" Laura smiled at the screen, happy to see no children were hurt.

 ** _Scott explains to Derek by phone that he lost Boyd and that they should stick together to find him again because Boyd is "too strong, too fast and way too angry for one person to handle." The plan to meet up but Scott says he has to drop someone off first, next to him are the two children Boyd had cornered and Scott apparently saved._**

"Nature and Scott McCall you mean" Stiles added with a smirk and Laura snorted.

 ** _Lydia is where we saw her last sitting up in bed after waking up screaming. She reaches for a bottle of generic brand Ibuprofen but it's empty. She rises, puts on her coat and yells to her mom that she's going to the store. She realizes that her mom can't hear her since she apparently didn't hear her "screaming like a lunatic" earlier. She stares for a moment at the full moon and repeats the word "lunatic."_**

"I assure you, you are not a lunatic" Peter said smoothly. "Oh? And why do you say so? I mean I have been screaming like one for apparently no reason at all" Lydia said with a raised eyebrow. Peter just smiled and looked away, not explaining any further.

 ** _While trying to follow tracks left by Boyd and Cora, Derek and Scott realize that the two out of control werewolves are sticking together. Scott relays the story of Boyd trying to rip the two kids apart and wonders aloud if they will do that to everyone they find. Derek says yes – everyone and anyone. Lydia is texting as she exits her car so it takes her a moment to realize that she has not, as she expected, driven to the store. Instead, she is at the public pool near the Beacon Hills Preserve. She sees a shape floating in the water. Whispering to herself "please don't be dead, please don't be dead"_**

"You just jinxed it" Stiles laughed while Lydia rolled her eyes.

 ** _She approaches and grabs the body – it turns out to be a CPR dummy used in resuscitation classes. As she breaths a sigh of relief she realizes that her hands are bloody. Following the pooling blood on the concrete, she looks up to find a man's body propped in the lifeguard stand and she screams._**

"See told you" Stiles smirked.

 ** _Allison is sitting in her car at the Beacon Hills overlook that served as Scott and her meeting spot during their clandestine relationship. In flashback to the bank vault, we see that Scott told her about Victoria Argent's attempt to kill him and has explained that Derek bit her while fighting to save him. Scott explains that he didn't tell her because he didn't want her murderous actions to be the last memory that she had of her mother._**

"Sometimes you are too good for your own good you know that?" Isaac rolled his eyes.

 ** _Derek carries what appears to be Erica's lifeless body and appears near to tears. Remembering all this, Allison comes to a decision. She reaches into the glove box of her car and removes an arrowhead. In a tent in the Preserve, two girls are getting cozy. Caitlin has lit a number of candles. She and her girlfriend, Emily, begin to kiss. Suddenly Emily notices thousands of bugs have settled on the outside of the tent, their shadows visible due to the bright moonlight outside._**

"That is in no way normal" Erica muttered.

 ** _She screams and completely freaks out when she notices one of the bugs is on her shoulder. She runs from the tent into the woods. She trips and falls and suddenly is overwhelmed by a carpet of thousands of bugs. When they finally disperse Emily is gone._**

"Oh God the Mummy is here" Stiles gasps in horror. "What?" Scott asked his best friend. "You mean you never watched the return of the mummy?" Stiles asked in mock horror. Scott rolled his eyes and decided not to grace him with an answer.

 ** _Back at the tent, Caitlin calls for Emily as Cora walks slowly toward her breathing heavily. Suddenly – Isaac appears and attempts to subdue her. Cora tosses him into a tree. Scott flies through the air landing on Cora with both feet knocking her to the ground. Derek arrives and growls loudly at her and Cora flees. Derek and Isaac give chase while Scott stays behind to check on Caitlin and to warn her to get to safety as fast as she can. He then takes off after the others. Stiles gets to the pool where Lydia is waiting. She shows him the dead guy and he says they need to call her dad. He is upset to learn that Lydia called 911 before calling him._**

"Well sorry I called the more capable bodies before you" Lydia rolled her eyes.

 ** _Stiles calls Scott who, thinking that Boyd and Cora are to blame, asks Stiles to get a closer look at the wounds to find out if it was actually them who killed the man. Stiles notes that the dead man is wearing a purity ring signifying that he has committed to remain a virgin until marriage._**

"Unnecessary detail" Isaac muttered.

 ** _Scott is convinced Boyd and Cora are to blame. Derek is doubtful wondering how they got all the way to the other side of the woods, nowhere near where they've been tracking them, in such a short period of time. Scott will not be swayed – driving home the point that they've killed an innocent and he and Derek are to blame. Derek says it's his fault._**

"Technically it's yours Mr. Alpha" Laura said with a sniff and Derek shifted uncomfortably.

 ** _Scott wants to get help. Again Derek is reluctant saying they have Isaac to help them but Scott is insistent saying they are too fast, too strong, too rabid for them to catch. Derek is unswayed saying they will catch them on their own. Isaac points out that if they do catch them they don't have a plan asking if they expect to just hold them down until the sun comes up. Derek says it might be easier just to kill them. Scott continues to push saying killing them isn't the right thing to do. Scott suggests they find someone who knows how to hunt werewolves._**

"It's okay to ask for help Derek" his mother told him sternly. Derek nodded but otherwise did nothing else to show he actually agreed or not.

 ** _In the woods, Deputy Tara Graeme and Sheriff Stilinski are questioning Caitlin. She admits that she and Emily split a tab of the drug ecstasy and the Sheriff points out that MDMA can cause hallucinations and suggests it might have been laced with something since the girl reported seeing a woman with glowing eyes, fangs and claws. He sends her to the hospital in hopes of finding out exactly what it was that she took. They also hope to get better descriptions of the "three guys" she saw there in the woods._**

"Eh not the first time someone totally debunked a story involving glowing eyes, fangs and claws" Laura shrugged.

 ** _In a quiet conversation with the deputy, Sheriff Stilinski doesn't seem completely ready to dismiss the girls story of claws and fangs saying he's sure she saw "something."_**

"Only dad would stick to it" Stiles shook his head with a smile.

 ** _Chris Argent is loading groceries into his car. He drops one of the bags, the one with a dozen eggs inside, as he picks up the bag and places it in the back, he spins - gun drawn on Scott who has appeared behind him._**

"You wolves just poof in and out of places like a bunch of ghosts" Chris sighed, shaking his head.

 ** _Derek and Isaac watch from Derek's new SUV. Derek says he doesn't think it will work. Isaac then inquires about Cora in such a way as to suggest he might be romantically interested in her. Derek gives him a hard look and Isaac suddenly decides he's not interested in her at all._**

"Good choice bub" Laura fixed him with an even look. Isaac swallowed hard and whatever thought of a relation he had went up in smokes.

 ** _With the gun still pointed at Scott's head, Chris says he doesn't want to help anyone related to Derek and he doesn't even know this kid Boyd's last name. Scott corrects him that Boyd is his last name and that his first name is Vernon. Scott then asks about the gun and Chris admits there's still some part of him that wants to shoot Scott. Chris lowers the gun and speaks softly but urgently to the boy explaining how he watched Gerard brainwash Allison. He says Scott's world "decimated mine." He runs down the list of people he's lost "wife, father, and sister" and asks why he would ever step foot in that world again. Scott tries to convince him that people are going to die and Chris knows he can stop Boyd and Cora without killing them but the hunter refuses._**

"Come on dad" Allison sighed.

 ** _Scott appears to give up, he asks Chris for a ride. He directs him to the site of the murder. As they arrive at the public pool, a grieving mother and father are looking down at a body bag on a gurney. This changes Chris' mind._**

Allison smiled at her father. "Your boyfriend has a way of getting people to help him" Chris said with a raised eyebrow and a small smile.

 ** _In the woods, Chris explains that Derek, Isaac and Scott are useless at tracking because they are focusing their energy on suppressing their werewolf side under the full moon. He urges them to instead focus on their sense of smell explaining that actual wolves can track prey up to a hundred miles per day by scent._**

"Wait really?" Scott asked surprised. Chris nodded his head but said nothing to support his nod.

 ** _While Chris is explaining this to the boys we see Allison has her dagger out and she cuts her arm allowing the blood to drop onto the leaves at her feet. Boyd catches a scent in the woods and takes off to investigate._**

"Do you know exactly how dangerous that can be!?" Chris hissed at his daughter. Allison shrunk a little and mumbled an apology.

 ** _Unaware that his daughter is using the exact technique he is describing, Chris explains that the Hunters can use the scent of blood to draw the werewolves to them from up to 2 miles away._**

"Like father like daughter" Peter laughed. Allison smirked at her sighing father.

 ** _Allison sets a trap, a tripwire, in the woods. Chris says they'll be easier to track with infrared thanks to their higher temperature. He passes out IR glasses to Isaac and Scott. Derek refuses, his eyes flash red and he explains that he already has his own. Allison also dons IR glasses and scans the woods._**

"It's scary how similar you two think" Melissa muttered. "Well that is the best way so" Chris shrugged. Internally he was proud of how her daughter was handling herself there.

 ** _Chris explains that underneath the wild impulses, Boyd and Cora are intelligent and that the beasts they've become can tap that suppressed human intelligence making them all the more dangerous and allowing them to mask their scent, cover their tracks and survive. As they set out, Chris asks Derek when he saw Cora last. Derek says "not in years"._**

The Hales from the past look at Derek sadly. Derek had his eyes closed trying not to think how his sister had survived alone for so long.

 ** _Derek explains that he thought Cora died in the fire. Chris wants to know if Derek has a "lock on her scent". Derek shakes his head "no." He asks Scott how confident he is in his skills, he explains that most of the time he's trying not to think about all the things that he can smell._**

"Oh gross dude" Stiles scrunches his nose.

 ** _Chris then explains that werewolves like to tear people apart. Unlike wolves, who hunt to eat, Boyd and Cora are "hunting for the pleasure of the kill, for some primal, apex predatory satisfaction that comes from the ripping of warm bodies to bloody shreds" and there is no telling when that desire will be satiated._**

"Dude"Boyd groaned.

 ** _Thinking the school is empty; they decide to trap the two werewolves inside the boiler room. Unfortunately, the school is not empty - Ms. Blake is in her classroom, at her desk working._**

"Well shit" Scott mutters.

 ** _Chris brings out what he calls "ultrasonic emitters" saying that they put out a burst of high-pitched sound that will drive werewolves in a direction they want them to run. All the boys can hear the sound, it looks painful. They all take and begin planting their emitters, creating a corridor leading to the school. Boyd and Cora respond as expected running toward the school. Stiles follows Lydia home. In her room she explains that she doesn't know how she found the body. She says she didn't even know where she was until she got out of her car. They both realize that the last time this happened to her was when Peter was controlling her._**

"Maybe someone is controlling you again" Stiles suggested. Lydia shrugged, she too was thinking the same.

 ** _In the woods, Peter arrives and explains that Deucalion's plan was for Derek to kill Boyd and Cora. That he wants Derek to get rid of his baggage making it easier for Derek to join the Alpha Pack. Peter suggests Derek give up the chase. He wonders aloud how much damage they can do saying "So they off a few homeless people, a drunk stumbling out of a bar too late, so what?" He says Scott can live in his morally superior world of black and white while Peter and Derek live in shades of gray. Then he points out that if Derek did kill Boyd and Cora, he could always make more werewolves._**

"You're sick in the head you know that?" Laura growled. Peter shrugged, "Hey that is me after the whole coma and shit. I don't agree with me in the future at all" he defended himself.

 ** _Melissa McCall gets Stiles to the hospital to look at the dead body found by the pool. She's discovered three different causes of death – strangulation, exsanguination through a cut to the throat and a massive blow to the head. She points out that this is the second body to come in with the same wounds._**

"Second?" Talia asked herself silently.

 ** _At the school, Chris points out the glowing fireflies and explains that the species that lives in California are NOT bioluminescent._**

"Wait what?" Peter asked. Talia shrugged, "They were when we were little".

 ** _The trap is laid at the school but Boyd and Cora take to the roof instead of heading inside the building._**

"There goes your grand plan" Stiles sighed.

 ** _In the morgue, Melissa pulls back the sheet on another gurney to reveal Stiles' friend Heather. She explains in graphic detail that the murderer used a garrote, a length of rope or wire looped around the neck then secured with a stick that is then wound tight until the person is dead. Tears begin welling in his eyes and Melissa realizes that Stiles knows the victim. She quickly covers her with a sheet as Stiles explains the connection. Stiles suddenly realizes that both the victims were virgins._**

"Oh Heather" Stiles sighed trying to hold himself. Claudia rubbed her son's back comfortingly. "Both virgins huh? That is a pattern" Peter mumbled,

 ** _On top of a bus at the back of the school Allison fires flash bang arrows at the ground near Boyd and Cora driving them inside the building. Isaac quickly shuts the door._**

"Plan on course again" Allison smirked.

 ** _Derek and the rest manage to drive the pair down into the boiler room and lock the door trapping them inside. Scott listens at the door and realizes he hears three heartbeats, not just two. They figure out that someone else is trapped inside with the . Blake is in the supply area stocking up on copy paper when she hears a bump in the dark._**

"Why does she need to be there now of all times" Scott groans.

 ** _At the hospital, Stiles questions Caitlin about her date in the woods. He is trying to find out if it was to be Emily's first time. Caitlin confirms that it would have been._**

"And now three" Peter narrowed his eyes.

 ** _Derek says he'll go in after Ms. Blake. He faces off with Boyd and Cora who tear him to shreds. He doesn't fight back, just holds them in place so they will focus on him and leave the human alone._**

"Derek protecting someone he doesn't know? Where did the sun rise from?" Laura mock gasped and then giggled at Derek's expression.

 ** _Just when it seems they will kill Derek – the sun rises and we find Derek kneeling with Boyd and Cora lying unconscious on the floor. Derek tells Scott and Isaac to take them out while he sees to Ms. Blake. Bloodied and bruised, Derek extends his hand to the frightened woman. Their eyes meet._**

"I smell romance" Lydia hummed with a smirk at the scowling werewolf.

 ** _Stiles takes Scott to the morgue to see Heather's body. As he explains his theory about all the victims being virgins, the Sheriff finds Emily's body tied by the neck to a tree with her throat cut and the other wounds common to all the victims. Stiles calls it the "Threefold Death" and says it's human sacrifice._**

"Now who would want to offer sacrifice? And to who?" Stiles suddenly asked, eyes narrowed in anger. Talia and Peter shrugged, they did not know anything about what this whole ritual was about or who it was for. But they knew for sure that it was not the Alpha pack who were behind it.


	32. 3-4

**_At the Animal Clinic, Scott is assisting Dr. Deaton by holding down a dog for an injection while its owner frets over the procedure._**

"Typical dog owners" Peter rolled his eyes.

 ** _The dog's name is Bullet. His owner explains that all of his dogs have gun-related names because he is from a military family. As Scott pets him, Bullet rolls over and presents his belly in a sign of submission. This prompts his owner to say "Looks like he knows who the Alpha is." This alarms Scott and seems to disturb Deaton._**

"Why would it alarm you?" Allison asked her boyfriend. "It seems too dangerous. Plus the Alpha pack is after Alphas right now. It would put everyone I associate with in danger" he shrugged.

 ** _Outside, Bullet's owner attempts unsuccessfully to get the dog into his silver Toyota Corolla. Instead the pup runs off between two warehouses. The owner follows and believes he has found the dog under a dumpster. When he reaches in, he gets bitten and blood wells on his hand. He then sees Bullet is sitting across the way. When he again looks under the dumpster a voice whispers "Closer, come closer."_**

"Not creepy at all" Lydia muttered.

 ** _Scott discovers a single mistletoe berry while sifting through a sample of Bullet's stool. Deaton explains that the plant is poisonous to dogs and humans. Scott hears Bullet barking outside and goes to investigate. He finds the dog but the owner is no longer there._**

"I wonder how it got there then. Bullet should have been dead" Stiles said. "I'm more concerned about the guy that got kidnapped by our ghost friend" Lydia added.

 ** _At school, Ms. Blake finds Derek waiting in her classroom. She picks up a wooden pointer and wields it awkwardly as a defense. She fears he is there to intimidate or kill her to keep her silent about the events. She reveals that her name is Jennifer and that she has been in psychotherapy. She and Derek discuss "The Crucible" - a Play by Arthur Miller. Derek explains that it's an allegory for McCarthyism. She promises to never tell about what she's seen and seems nervous but intrigued by Derek._**

"Does little brother have a crush?" Laura smirked and elbowed his side.

 ** _Stiles is wondering if the latest missing guy, Bullet's owner, was a virgin. Scott jokes that he's not because Deaton makes him have sex with all his clients. He says it's a new policy at the Animal Clinic._**

"Gee Scott, I need to get a pet just to get in your pants then?" Allison said with a smirk and a raised eyebrow. Scott just blushed and said nothing.

 ** _Stiles gets upset pointing out that if the killer is after virgins that he is in danger and needs to have sex immediately._**

"That is a valid reason to be afraid people" Stiles shouted to the laughing crowd.

 ** _They are in the locker room and are overheard by Danny who says he'll do it and that Stiles should come by his house around 9pm and plan to stay the night because "I like to cuddle". It's a joke of course but Stiles believes it just long enough to feign hurt feelings when Danny laughs and walks off._**

"Guess you really are into guys son" Noah scratched his chin with a small smile. Stiles groaned, "Oh come on not you too".

 ** _Isaac returns to school and Coach Bobby Finstock welcomes him and explains that participation on Cross Country team is mandatory for all lacrosse players because he doesn't want them to get fat in the off season. Nike apparently provides the school's Cross Country uniforms and gear. Outside, a few minutes later, Isaac is lacing up his running shoes. The Alpha Twins, Ethan (in black) and Aiden (in burgundy), stalk up to him on either side. When the whistle blows, everyone starts running with the Alphas way out in front._**

"The twins rub me the wrong way here" Talia muttered, not at all pleased at the twin Alpha's behavior. "They are young and probably had to kill to become Alphas. Young blood with a knack for killing can do that" Peter pointed out.

 ** _Scott tries to get him to wait but Isaac chases after them. He loses sight of them again until one pushes him off the trail and down an embankment. They subdue him and are about to beat him when Scott shows up and punches Ethan hard, breaking his jaw. All four wolf out and prepare for battle but are interrupted by a scream._**

"Too many screams in this season" Erica rubbed her ears.

 ** _Running to find the source, they reach a group of students surrounding the body of Bullet's owner. He has been killed in the same manner of the other three, throat cut, bludgeoned and strangled with his dog leash. The Sheriff arrives and takes control of the scene. Scott reveals that the victim was a senior. The victim's girlfriend, Ashley, arrives and starts crying._**

"Poor girl" Laura said sadly. Derek watched it impassively, internally trying not to see 'that' night.

 ** _Isaac is convinced that the Alpha Twins knew something about the murder. Stiles believes the killings don't involve werewolves "a lack of werewolfitude"._**

"Excluding the horrendous word" Peter began gaining a complained shout from Stiles, "I agree with the kid".

 ** _Scott is caught in the middle but believes both sides make good points. Isaac says he's convinced the Alphas are responsible and he plans to kill them._**

"Yeah one beta against five Alpha's. Good luck" Laura snorted. Isaac said nothing, hands clenched tightly into fists.

 ** _Derek's sister Cora is working out in his loft. She does pull-ups then drops to the floor doing push-ups. There is tension. Derek tells her to stop because she is not done healing. She refuses saying she plans to go after the Alphas. Derek kicks her hand out from under her and she tumbles to the floor. Cora is livid saying she came back to town because she heard about a powerful new Alpha, one of the Hales, and that she had been waiting for this kind of news for a long time. She apparently did not know Derek was still alive either._**

"Poor child" Derek muttered under his breath. "I wonder where she had gone to" Peter asked aloud.

 ** _An alarm sounds and Kali and Ennis show up and the four begin to fight. Ennis quickly subdues Cora and Kali beats Derek into submission before stabbing him through the lower back with a steel pipe._**

"That will take a long time o heal" Laura winced. Talia tried not to scream out seeing the injuries her children were being inflicted with.

 ** _Deucalion enters and begins explaining what he wants. Derek assumes he wants to kill him but Deucalion seems offended saying "Don't throw me in with sociopaths like your uncle"._**

"Hey!" Peter shouts, offended from the remark. "Well he wasn't wrong" Derek shrugged producing another yell of complaint from the person of topic.

 ** _He says he is always on the lookout for new talent and wants Derek to join his pack. Derek says he wants him to kill his Betas but Deucalion corrects him saying he only wants him to kill one and then he'll want to kill the rest. Deucalion explains how he accidentally discovered that killing one of his Betas allowed him to absorb their power. Once he became blind, one of his Betas felt he was no longer able to lead so he tried to kill him and take control. Deucalion bested him, killed him, and found that he became faster and stronger because of it. He says Kali and Ennis have both killed their entire packs. Kali says it was liberating. Deucalion says Derek's pack, a couple of maladjusted teenagers, are bound to become a liability._**

"That bastard is just sick. He and his Alpha pack" Talia growled. She had known Deucalion for a long time and seeing her friend change like this made her both shocked, sad and disgusted.

 ** _Allison fell asleep in Ms. Morrell's French class. As the teacher calls her name is French, Allison dreams it is her mother, Victoria Argent, shouting her name and snaps awake. Once the rest of the class is gone, Allison and the teacher face off about their encounter. Neither is willing to give the other information on the why of them being in the bank and Ms. Morrell assigns lunchtime detention to Allison for sleeping in class._**

"Just for not giving her what she wanted? Selfish much?" Lydia said. "Uh the detention is because she fell asleep" Scott said and earned a snort from the strawberry blonde.

 ** _Mr. Harris is teaching Inertia vs. Momentum. Scott is trying to convince Isaac to wait to confront the Alpha twins but Isaac stands up quickly and asks to be excused to go to the bathroom. Harris consents but when Scott says he has to go too, Harris refuses saying that if Scott's "bladder suddenly exploded and urine began to pour from every orifice" he still wouldn't let him go._**

"Okay this dude has some serious issues. Whoever the ghost is, should go after him next!" Laura growled.

 ** _In the hallway, Isaac confronts the Twins but Aiden begins beating Ethan, slamming his head into the locker and then throwing him at Isaac's feet. When Harris and the class spill into the hallway, Ethan blames his injuries on Isaac. Later at school, Scott and Isaac see Aiden flirting with Lydia who turns him down for a date._**

"Well our team won at something" Stiles laughed.

 ** _Stiles confronts Ashley. We learn his name was Kyle and Stiles wants to know if he was a virgin. She slaps him but says he was not a virgin._**

"Dude you seriously need to learn some tact" Scott shook his head.

 ** _Then his dad yells at him for interfering pointing out that the FBI has come to town because they have a full blown serial killer on their hands. At Derek's Loft, Deucalion seems to know about the twins targeting of Isaac at school. He tells Derek that one of his Betas is getting in trouble._**

"Of course he would n=know that. Stupid stick wolf" Erica rolled her eyes.

 ** _Lunch time detention finds Allison paired with Isaac she asks him not to mention that she was at the school last night. He is still angry about her stabbing him with knives. Allison corrects him that they were Chinese ring daggers. Allison apologizes._**

"At least she apologized" Boyd patted Isaac on the back.

 ** _They get locked into the janitor's supply closet, a soda machine is shoved up against the outside of the door blocking even Isaac's enhanced strength from freeing them. He begins to panic, flashing back to the chest freezer in which his father locked him up. He beats on the door; eventually he wolfs out and turns on Allison. At that moment the door flies open and Scott pulls Isaac outside. He roars his name and Isaac calms and begins to apologize. Allison has two bloody scratches on her arm._**

"Thank God they weren't deep" Chris sighs in relief but then that relief is replaced by anger, "You better avenge your girl here McCall" he pointed at Scott.

 ** _Scott and Isaac plot to get the Alpha Twins angry. A makeshift memorial has been set up at Kyle's locker. Boyd approaches and pins up an Air Force ROTC patch attached to a note card with "Crossed Into the Blue" written in sharpie. Stiles greets him and mentions that he didn't know he was back at school. Boyd says they're not friends so why would he bother telling him. Boyd explains that Kyle and he were in ROTC together. Stiles concludes that they must have been friends but Boyd says he only had one friend and "she's dead."_**

"Oh Boyd" Erica sighed sadly and hugged her friend tightly.

 ** _Stiles explains to Lydia that there is a temple in Calcutta, India where they once sacrificed a baby every day. Every day was dead baby day. She doesn't get why he's telling her about human sacrifices and he explains that Scott is dealing with the Alpha Twins. She doesn't know about the Alpha Twins but pretends that she does. Stiles lays out his theory pointing out that the sacrifices are coming in threes – three virgins then three of something else which would explain why Kyle was killed even though he wasn't a virgin. Lydia points out that it's impossible to discern a pattern from a single data point meaning they would need another victim before a pattern could be established._**

"Basically wait for another death" Stiles sighed.

 ** _Lydia says maybe it's not Stiles job and maybe he should leave the investigation of this human crime to the human Sheriff. Allison hotwires one of the twins' MV Agusta motorbikes. She gives Isaac a quick lesson in how to ride it._**

"This should be good" Isaac smirks.

 ** _Scott arrives in Ms. Blake's class and begins popping motorcycle parts out of his backpack in front of the twins. Out in the hall, Isaac speeds along on the stolen motorcycle. Aiden becomes enraged and rushes out into the hall, stops the speeding bike with his bare hands and demands that Isaac get off. Isaac does by flipping over Aiden and leaving the Alpha holding the bike as students and Ms. Blake rush out into the hall to see what was happening. The teacher says Aiden will be suspended._**

"Good going" Stiles laughed and clapped loudly with the rest of the crowd who were also whistling and cheering. Even Derek seemed very pleased with this.

 ** _Back at the loft, Deucalion touches Derek's face and says that Kali was right, he looks like his mother._**

"Bastard!" Derek growled, whatever good mood he had now washed away.

 ** _Derek, steel pipe still imbedded in his torso, says Deucalion is a fanatic. The leader of the Alphas explains that Derek has never seen anything like him before. He then launches into the following speech accompanied by lightning and thunder from an approaching storm._**

 ** _I am the Alpha of Alphas._**

 ** _I am the apex of apex predators._**

 ** _I am death, destroyer of worlds._**

 ** _I am the Demon Wolf._**

 ** _On the last line his voice rises in volume to the point that his dark glasses crack._**

 ** _Kali removes the pipe and Derek collapses on the floor._**

"That was kinda scary. And also cool" Laura muttered in awe.

 ** _Lydia draws a tree with a pen; black and barren branches bend and twist across the page. Danny comes up and comments on how good her drawing is and says she should be in art class. Lydia seems distracted. Danny then points out that she is in the music classroom and we see that she is surrounded by students with various instruments. Danny holds a trumpet. Lydia clearly has no idea how she got there. Someone shouts "15 minutes." Danny explains that they've waited for the teacher for 15 minutes and can now leave because he didn't show up. The class exits but Lydia is drawn to a phone that is propped up on the piano. She realizes that the device is still recording and hits playback. We hear the teacher playing and then a discordant note and the playing abruptly stops. Then Lydia hears chanting on the recording. It is the same chant that was heard during each of the previous murders._**

"What language is that?" Lydia asked with squinted eyes.

 ** _Stiles goes to see Dr. Deaton saying that his father is handicapped in his investigation because he doesn't know that supernatural stuff is going down all around him. He explains that he's found everything about the murders so far seems to point to the Druids, an ancient religious class about which little is known but much is imagined and speculated._**

"Okay kid, you are a special case. Ever thought of being in the crime solving department or something?" Chris asked with a smile. While Stiles blushed and babbled, his parents looked at him with pride evident in their eyes.

 ** _He also draws comparisons to a real case of human sacrifice discovered in England called "Lindow Man" an ancient body discovered in 1984 in England with mistletoe pollen in his stomach and the same threefold injuries of the recent murders in Beacon Hills. Stiles points out that Deaton seems to know a lot about what's going on that he hasn't yet told Scott and his friends. Deaton explains that he's spent every moment of the past 10 years trying to push something away and that denying it and lying about it has become a pretty powerful habit. Deaton then explains that the killer is NOT a Druid but is simply copying the centuries old practices of a person who should have known then explains that the word "Druid" in Gaelic means "Wise Oak" saying they were close to nature and were philosophers not serial killers. Stiles gets a call from Lydia who tells him the music teacher has been taken. Deaton and Stiles join her at the school. They listen to the chanting and Deaton asks for a copy so Lydia makes one and uploads it. He explains to Stiles that each grouping of three would have its own purpose – he lists virgins, healers, philosophers and warriors. Stiles stops him there having found a picture of the music teacher in military uniform and remembering that Kyle was in Junior ROTC. They immediately think of Boyd since he too is in ROTC but then Lydia remembers that Mr. Harris has a military connection as well._**

"I never thought my wish would come true" Laura muttered. "So Dr. Deaton is a druid?" Scott asked Talia who nodded. "My families personal advisor" she said with a smile.

 ** _In his classroom, Mr. Harris is grading papers when chanting begins. On his desk is a plaque with the "Honor Code" from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point - "A cadet will not lie, cheat, steal, or tolerate those who do." In the school hallway, Isaac and Scott are confronted by Ethan and Aidan who strip down and merge into one large Alpha. They run from the giant but he easily catches them and tosses them down the hallway. Deucalion enters and the boys demerge and look shamefaced. He then removes the cap from his cane revealing a small knife in the handle. He sweeps it quickly at the twins cutting both on the cheek in one swipe._**

"That dude is far scarier than he looks if he can do that and make the twins act like kittens" Allison muttered to herself and Scott who nodded.

 ** _In Harris' classroom, Deaton, Lydia and Stiles search for clues. They find a test graded with an "R" and another graded with an "H". They put all the tests together and it spells out the word – DARACH (Dah-Rahk) which Deaton explains means "Dark Oak". That was how the Druids described one who "went down the wrong path."_**

"A Darach is a very bad thing" Peter mumbled, eyes wide in fright. "Like you being stuck in a coma bad?" Erica asks. "Not as bad but yeah it's there" he said.

 ** _Derek tells Isaac he has to move out of the loft. He makes excuses, claiming having both Cora and he under the same roof is just too much. When Isaac protests, Derek throws a glass at him that shatters on a wooden beam column near Isaac's face. Near tears, Isaac does as Derek commands while Cora listens out of sight. Isaac goes to Scott's house._**

"I know you are trying to protect him and all, but can you be a bit more sensitive? I mean he literally has no other place to go" Laura groaned. "He has Scott" Derek pointed out.

 ** _In the pouring rain, Adrian Harris is tied to a tree. He begs for his life, telling the killer that he "did what you asked. I did everything. They're going to figure this out and they're going to find you. You still need me." With that, the killer twists the stick, tightening the garrote around Harris neck, apparently killing him._**

"So he broke the whole honor code thing he had pride in? Serves him right for endangering innocent lives and killing all those people" Laura snarled, whatever feelings of guilt she had for wishing his death now up in flames.


	33. 3-5

**_/This chapter is a bit different than what we saw on the show. I have failed to find a synopsis which scripted the episode out like the show as a reference for me writing this chapter. So it will be in the chronological order of the events that had occurred during the whole episode/_**

 ** _Scott found an arrow at school and brings it to Allison's apartment to confront her. At first she denies her involvement claiming it might have come from the archery team. Scott then points out that Beacon Hills High doesn't have an archery team and if they did they wouldn't use "military grade, armor piercing, titanium arrowheads."_**

"Busted" Laura smirked

 ** _Scott warns Allison to stay away from the Alpha Pack because of their superhuman strength. They then flirt over the idea of who would win in fight between her and Scott. They spar. Scott easily blocks her attacks and they end up very close to kissing._**

"Damnit Scott! Always kiss when in that situation! You have 50% chance of getting kissed back" Stiles groaned. "What's the other 50% going to?" Scott asked. "Well that my friend is the chance of you getting slapped then kneed in the balls" Stiles said with a grin making Scott snort.

 ** _He leaves with a warning that the Alpha twins were just playing with them at the school. He says he is afraid and that she should be afraid of what the Alpha Pack might do. In the elevator of Allison's building Deucalion is waiting for Scott. The young werewolf extends his claws. The Alpha Pack leader seems amused saying he would have to be "blind, deaf and quadriplegic" for Scott to have a chance of taking him down._**

"Ouch" Isaac winces, "right in the pride" he finished with a sigh.

 ** _He then teases Scott saying he should take chance, kill an Alpha and become an Alpha but Scott isn't interested. Scott says he's not like Deucalion, that he doesn't have to kill people. The older man says that might change that a circumstance may arise where the only way to save one person is to kill another. Scott thinks the leader is there to spark a confrontation with him but Deucalion says he lives in the building. He points out that the neighbors are surprisingly friendly. When Scott asks what he's after – he responds "I want to see what you're made of."_**

"Funny cause he is blind" Stiles said with a little laugh.

 ** _In Derek's Loft, Scott reports the Alpha Pack is living in Allison's building, Derek's pack already knows because Cora and Boyd followed the twins there. Scott suggests that the Alphas want them to know where they are. Peter suggests they don't care if Derek knows. Derek says they plan to attack tomorrow and that Scott is going with them. The Alphas live in the penthouse right above the Argent's apartment. Derek plans a preemptive strike to kill the Alphas first. Scott wants to know why killing is always the go to plan for werewolves. Peter agrees with him but mocks Scott for being "blandly moral." Cora disagrees with Scott and wants to know why they need "this kid." Derek points out that Scott helped save her life and tries to convince Scott that they can't just sit back and wait for them to make the first move._**

"Sadly I agree with Derek. It's too risky to wait for them to make the first move here" Chris sighed.

 ** _Scott says they can't defeat the whole Alpha Pack. Cora says they're not going after the whole pack, just Deucalion. Boyd describes him as "the head of the snake" believing that if they kill him the rest will fold._**

"But you forget. They are all Alphas. And each Alpha is a leader on its own. Even if Deucalion dies, one of them will stand up and take charge. Knowing the rest, the whole pack would become much much more violent then" Talia sighed.

 ** _Peter says it's not a snake but a Hydra – a mythical creature the demigod Hercules fought. Scott rightly points out that when Hercules cut off one of the creatures seven heads, two more grew back in its place. Peter congratulates him for doing his "summer reading."_**

"Much more accurately put there" Talia smiles at her brother. "Dude why are you so into insulting me so much?" Scott asked. "Well it's not just you. I insult everyone" Peter smiled.

 ** _Scott visits Dr. Deaton saying he doesn't know what to do about the situation. He doesn't know how to save someone who doesn't want to be saved. He doesn't know how to stop them. Deaton says Scott shouldn't try to stop them, he should lead them._**

"Maybe you should. You are the one with the most level head right now" Laura rolled her eyes.

 ** _Allison tries to convince her father that someone needs to help Scott and Derek. Chris says it's not up to them. He is getting his consulting business going again and she is going to graduate. He says that's a normal life and that's what they agreed to. Allison persists saying that a Pack of Alphas is trying to kill her friends and asking how she can stay out of that. Chris says situations that need careful navigation are called "threading the needle" – finding a safe path through two opposing forces. Allison says that sounds like "saving your own ass."_**

"I agree with future me. We are saving our asses" Allison scowled at her father.

 ** _Chris points out that Scott and Derek are not her family. Allison retorts that since she's lost so much family that she could use a few friends. Scott decides to meet with Deucalion himself. He is leaving his house for the meet but is stopped by Isaac. He lies and says he's going for food but Isaac insists on going too. They arrive at an abandoned mall where Deucalion is perched on a broken down escalator. Scott was supposed to come alone, thinking that he means Isaac, Scott apologizes but then Derek walks out of the shadows. Scott tries to talk Derek down saying that no one needs to get killed but Deucalion also broke the rules and all the members of the Alpha Pack reveal themselves._**

"Pack vs Pack war!" Laura cheered. "Dude!" Isaac exclaimed, "We could get seriously injured or worse and you're cheering?" he asked with a raised eyebrow. Laura shrugged, "Fights excite me".

 ** _Kali comes sliding down a concrete column, leaving claw marks from her feet all the way down._**

"Oh God that sound" Lydia winced.

 ** _Ennis comes up another escalator from the floor below and the Alpha Twins are standing on a ledge one floor above. Boyd and Cora step forward. Derek makes a move on Deucalion but Kali stops him with a kick to the head. The twins somersault from the upper floor and land merged._**

"Derek man come on! Look where you're going" Stiles groaned. "That twin jump merge was kinda cool" Boyd muttered while Stiles groaned at Derek.

 ** _Boyd is facing off with Ennis who seems to easily avoid most of his blows but the young man does score one good upper cut. Isaac takes on the merged twins and is tossed aside easily. Scott reluctantly transforms to help Isaac. The merged twins throw him into a concrete wall._**

"Ouch" Stiles winced. "Next time, we charge together or before one of us gets knocked down on to their ass" Scott rolled his eyes.

 ** _Derek briefly gets the upper hand with Kali, twisting her arm and delivering an elbow to the face. Cora fights Ennis but the larger werewolf twists her around breaking her arm. Isaac and Scott fight the merged twins but they are no match and Scott gets a nasty scratch on his torso._**

"oooh that's gonna sting. A lot!" Laura said

 ** _Through it all, Deucalion stands serenely on the damaged escalator listening. Ennis holds Boyd while Kali delivers a roundhouse kick, clawing deeply into Boyd's chest._**

"Dude that Deucalion guy is kinda cool. Just look at him standing without a care in the world, listening to drops of blood and groans from his enemies" Stiles quickly explained when he got weird looks from everyone.

 ** _Boyd is down. Kali has her foot on Cora's neck. Scott and Isaac are on their knees. Deucalion urges Derek to kill Boyd saying if he does, then they others can go. Deucalion says Derek should "take the first step" referencing what he told Derek about killing his betas to become stronger._**

"He would never do something like that" Talia growled.

 ** _Kali thinks Derek is laughable, mocking that he is Alpha to a couple of "useless teenagers." Deucalion looks toward Scott and says that some have more promise than others._**

"Deucalion seems to have taken a shine to Scott. Any ideas why?" Chris asked looking right at Talia. "I don't know" she said with a smile that indicated that she might know something.

 ** _Kali threatens to kill Cora if he doesn't and tells Derek he must choose between family and pack. An arrow flies over Derek's head and strikes the merged twins who immediately separate into two people again. Allison continues firing flashbang arrows and Deucalion warns them to cover their eyes._**

"Go Allison!" Lydia and Laura cheered.

 ** _Allison continues to fire, giving Scott and Derek time to regroup and begin to help the wounded out of harm's way. Scott regains his feet and takes aim at Ennis. The two hit each other with equal force and merely slide away from each other._**

"Okay that didn't seem normal" Stiles pointed out. "Dude just tackled a super powered Alpha and just slid back?" he asked and looked at a smiling Talia who was looking at the screen in excitement.

 ** _Once he looks up we can see that Scott's eyes glow Alpha Red. He shakes his head and they return to the more common yellow color._**

"No way!" Laura suddenly stood up. "His eyes. How did they?" Chris asked confused. "What Scott might become is called a True Alpha" Talia began. "They are what the name suggest. They are born Alphas who fought their urge to kill and took the non-bloodied path to power. Their strength is true and far exceeds that of an Alpha who gained his powers through killing another Alpha" she finished. "So you mean to tell me Scott McCall could end up becoming the strongest Alpha in all of Beacon Hills!? Even stronger than Deucalion!?" he almost shouted the last part out. "Unless another more experienced True Alpha appears, yeah pretty much" Peter shrugged.

 ** _Derek attacks Ennis from behind. As the two struggle they get closer and closer to the ledge over a three floor drop. Scott jumps forward to help, slashing at the tendons in Ennis' leg. Ennis spins and begins to fall over the ledge pulling Derek with him. The two crash down on another escalator far below._**

"No way is that fall even hurting my brother!" Laura said. "He fell on an escalator. That has to do something to his spine" Stiles pointed out. "I refuse to believe this" Laura shook her head and looked at her mom who looked very worried. "You agree right?" she asked getting a small nod in return.

 ** _A storm is brewing as the Beacon Hills Cross Country Team heads toward a meet on a desert highway. Issac tells Boyd to stop thinking about their recent confrontation with the Alpha Pack and Derek's apparent death pointing out that there is nothing they can do about it. Boyd says he's not sure of that and stares back at Ethan who is sitting with Danny._**

"I will say this one more time. That is a bad idea" Noah said with a groan.

 ** _Ethan keeps checking his phone. When Danny asks why he says he's waiting for a message but it's not important. At the back of the bus, Stiles is running vocabulary words with Scott using an app on his iPad. The word "Incongruous" and Stiles says it is incongruous that they are going to the meet after what just happened with the Alpha Pack. When he tries to work in the word "DARACH", Scott doesn't respond. The bus hits a bump in the road and Scott winces in pain. Stiles is worried. Scott's wound, deep scratches in his torso, is not healing. He claims this is because the wound was inflicted by an Alpha but Stiles points out that Boyd and Isaac have already recovered. Scott says he can't believe Derek is dead._**

"You can't be serious" Peter groaned.

 ** _Allison is following the bus. Lydia is riding shotgun and wonders aloud if Allison is stalking Scott. Allison says after what happened she isn't letting him out of her sight._**

"Cute" Erica smirked. Allison looked at Scott and smiled at him. Scott looked back at her and smiled back, arm around her.

 ** _Coach berates a student named Jared about being carsick. Scott is dozing against the window and the Coach thinks he might be sick as well. He quickly sits up straight and says he's good. Stiles points out that Scott's wound is bleeding again. Ethan is listening to their conversation, they notice but Scott says he won't try anything in front of a bus full of people. Stiles wonders aloud if the same can be said of Isaac and Boyd. Scott says if they try anything he'll stop them._**

"With a wound like that? I doubt it" Stiles muttered.

 ** _Still following the bus, Lydia is reading a textbook titled "Thermodynamic: Asymmetry in Time". She puts the book down and points out that Allison is almost out of gas. Allison is worried she'll lose the bus. Lydia says it doesn't matter because they know where the team is headed. Allison points out that Lydia didn't see what happened during the battle. Lydia says she knows who started it._**

 ** _Allison teases her asking if that is what Aiden told her. Lydia realizes that Allison is not just keeping an eye on Scott but on her as well. She denies that she and Aiden are involved but then flashes back to a passionate exchange with him at school. He is apparently being too much of a gentleman and she tells him to put his hands "somewhere useful" so he grabs her bottom and lifts her up onto the desk._**

"Oh my God" Lydia and Stiles both groaned.

 ** _Traffic on the road is stalled. Isaac checks his phone and says there is a jackknifed tractor trailer a few miles ahead. At the abandoned mall, Cora checks the escalator where Derek apparently fell to his death. Peter shows up and the two discuss the fact that he killed Laura and that Derek killed him. Neither knows if they can trust the other. Cora points out that he's known her for 17 years but he corrects her saying he knew her for the first 11 but that the last 6 are "unaccounted for."_**

"Painfully true" Talia sighed.

 ** _They both wonder how the bodies of Derek and Ennis disappeared. They hope that it's a sign that Derek survived the fall and was able to walk away. Boyd begins to wolf out. His eyes glow and he claws the back of the seat. Scott makes his way to Boyd's seat and tries to talk him out of attacking Ethan pointing out that he doesn't know what would happen to him if he attacked the Alpha on the bus. Boyd says he doesn't care about his own future but Scott says he does care about Boyd._**

"Aww. Is Scott developing feelings for Boyd now?" Erica teased making Boyd and Scott stutter out complains.

 ** _Isaac notices Scott is bleeding. This seems to shock Boyd into submission. Scott says he's fine and begs the Betas to give him a chance to figure something out. He hopes for a plan that doesn't end with someone else dying. Boyd agrees. Scott returns to Stiles at the back of the bus, his friend is worried that Ethan keeps checking his phone and that it is something evil. He texts Danny several times to get him to inquire about Ethan's behavior but Danny refuses resulting in a ridiculous amount of text alerts, typing and beeping. Danny eventually does ask and reports back to Stiles that someone close to Ethan is sick and he's waiting for an update._**

"Good going son" Noah cheered with a laugh that was accompanied by more laughs from Melissa, Claudia, Scott and Allison.

 ** _Aiden, Kali and Ms. Morrell show up at Dr. Deaton's with an unconscious Ennis. Kali begins to get all wolfy but the gate made of Mountain Ash blocks their way. Kali threatens to kill Ms. Morrell if he doesn't open up but the mystical wood built into the structure seems to force her back into human form. Morrell tries to reason with Deaton, pointing out that if Ennis dies the ongoing struggle between the two packs will escalate and that his "protégé" Scott will end up dead. He reluctantly opens the gate and allows them into the exam room._**

"Dude cares more about Scott than his own sister" Stiles blinked. "To Alan, Scott is still a child who was thrust into this world. He is a guide and he intends to see the best path for Scott. His sister too agrees" Talia defended her friend.

 ** _On the bus, Jared is looking even sicker. Coach warns him not to throw up because he is an empathetic vomiter and that if Jared throws up, he will throw up on him and it will profoundly disgusting. Stiles tries to convince the Coach to stop for food at the next exit but the Coach refuses saying nothing is going to make them miss the meet. Scott has been trying to call Deaton but keeps getting voice mail. Stiles calls Lydia and Allison. He explains that Scott is not healing and they decide they have to get Coach to stop the bus so they can tend to his wound. Stiles tries to reason with the Coach but gets nothing but a whistle in the face. He then sits down with Jared and somehow makes him vomit._**

"Trust Stiles to get the oddest of jobs done" Noah snorted.

 ** _The bus pulls into a rest area and Lydia, Allison and Stiles get Scott into the restroom to treat his wound. It seems to be infected, turning black and getting worse._**

"That looks bad" Lydia said. "that's because it is bad" Peter rolled his eyes.

 ** _Lydia believes his failure to heal is Somatoformic, that is his own brain is causing his very real physical illness. Stiles believes Scott is not letting himself heal because he feels guilt over Derek's death. Lydia comes up with a plan to sew up the wound because if he believes he is healing he might actually start healing. She takes a sewing kit from her purse._**

"Why do you have that with you?" Stiles asked. Lydia shrugged, "in case of emergencies".

 ** _Allison starts by burning a needle with a lighter to sterilize it. Stiles leaves to find Scott another shirt in his bag on the bus Lydia goes to help him make sure the bus doesn't leave while they're treating Scott. She then sets about her work but cannot seem to thread the needle. Suddenly her mother is standing beside her berating her that she can't do one simple little task. Her mom's voice in her head goes from cajoling to comforting. Allison reminds herself to approach the situation clinically and unemotionally. She stops crying and threads the needle._**

"Even in death she is still looking out for me" Allison sighed sadly.

 ** _When she's finished Scott seems to have lost consciousness. She calls his name until he comes back around. He snaps awake saying "it's my fault" referencing Derek's death. Allison helps him to his feet and they make their way out of the restroom where Lydia is waiting and helps support Scott. Lydia reminds her that they are out of gas but Allison refuses to leave Scott and says they'll take the bus and leave the car at the rest area. Isaac attacks Ethan, punching him again and again as Boyd stands by watching. The Coach steps into the break it up but Isaac doesn't stop until Scott shouts his name._**

"Well well Scott, you're inner Alpha is showing" Peter smirked while Scott rolled his eyes.

 ** _At Deaton's, Cora and Peter arrive and he explains that it is more than just an Animal Clinic. He says half of the building is made of Mountain Ash and he's not sure how they can get in. Cora suggests they knock on the door like normal people but then Peter senses that the Alpha Pack is inside. Deaton has finished treating Ennis. Deucalion enters and the doctor explains that Ennis is unconscious and will recover from his wounds. The Alpha Leader kisses Ennis on both cheeks, grabs his head and crushes his skull. Kali and Aiden exit the clinic. Kali is breaking down and growls so loudly that car alarms begin to sound. Aiden hugs her and comforts her._**

"Why would he do that?" Erica asked. "Probably doesn't want a liability and for a kick for the team to get up their asses and work properly. He probably blamed this on Derek too just to get them to do their work" Peter explained.

 ** _On the bus, Lydia and Stiles discuss the murders. Lydia brings up the fact some ancient cultures used human sacrifice to prepare for battle. Stiles sums it up "we have Alpha werewolves against a dark druid." Allison says if Derek is dead it's not Scott's fault. Scott thanks her for not listening when he warned her to stay away. Allison stares at Scott and says she is just looking at his eyes._**

"She is probably looking for those dreamy Alpha eyes" Laura cooed jokingly making both parties blush.

 ** _Ennis' body is still on the table at Deaton's. Ms. Morrell covers his face with a sheet. Deaton chastises her saying she doesn't know what she's gotten herself into. She retorts "It's a little late to be playing big brother."_**

"The two always fought like that" Talia shook her head fondly.

 ** _At school, Ms. Blake gets in her car to leave when Derek stumbles up and leaves a bloody hand print on the window. She gets out to help him._**

"I KNEW HE WAS ALIVE! I KNEW MY BABY BROTHER WON'T DIE SO EASILY!" Laura whooped and jumped around before pulling Derek into a bone crushing hug.


	34. 3-6

**_A man in a pickup truck pulls into the Motel Glen Capri in the town of Fairvale, California. The headline in the local paper gives the date as "March 5, 1977". When he exits the truck, we can see a large wound on his leg while his pants and hand are covered in blood._**

"That looks like a very familiar wound" Scott muttered.

 ** _On the room key, the motel's address is given as P.O. Box 217, Fairvale, CA 92289. In room 217, he pulls up his shirt and examines a large Alpha bite on his torso. He is wearing the Argent Necklace._**

"Uh dad is that someone you know?" Allison asked her father. "My uncle Alexander" Chris mumbled, eyes wide in horror.

 ** _He sees the full moon out his window. He then takes a sawed-off shot gun, places it under his chin and says "nous chassons ceux qui nous chassent" or "we hunt those that hunt us" which is a Werewolf Hunter Motto. His eyes then begin to glow a bright yellow and he pulls the trigger. In the pooling blood on the floor we see his Massachusetts Drivers' License on which his name is listed as "Argent, Alexander"._**

"Another lost to the foolish family honor" Allison sighed.

 ** _In present day, the Beacon County School bus pulls into the same motel parking lot. As the members of the Cross Country team, Allison and Lydia disembark, Scott comments on the quality of the motel saying he's seen worse. Stiles challenges this asking where that might have been._**

"Co incidence we would stop at the very same motel" Boyd mumbled.

 ** _The Coach Bobby Finstock explains that the cross country meet to which they were traveling has been postponed until the following day and that Motel Glen Capri was the only one that had enough vacant rooms and "the least judgment when it comes to accepting a bunch of degenerates…"._**

"Does he have to use such harsh language every single time?" Melissa asked with a sigh. "It's the coach's was of saying he loves us" Stiles laughed.

 ** _Students are staying two to a room and the Coach warns them against "sexual perversions" and calls them all "little deviants."_**

"Well he isn't wrong there" Peter shrugged.

 ** _As the bus pulls away to park, Allison notices Lydia hasn't moved and is just staring at the Motel. When questioned, she says she doesn't like it. Allison explains that they're just staying one night to which Lydia replies "a lot can happen in one night."_**

"When the girl who finds bodies says that, you know shit is about to hit the fan" Erica said with a snort.

 ** _In their room, Scott and Stiles discuss their top 10 suspects in the recent human sacrifice murders but only explains four. Stiles' list includes –_**

 ** _Adrian Harris Just cause he's missing doesn't mean he's dead._**

 ** _Cora Hale "No one knows anything about her and she's Derek's sister."_**

"I know you make a valid point with the first part, but just because she is Derek's sister, she isn't a killer" Laura rolled her eyes.

 ** _Dr. Deaton "I don't really like the whole Obi Wan thing he's got going on. It freaks me out."_**

"Good to know I'm not the only one" Erica muttered.

 ** _Lydia Martin "She was totally controlled by Peter and she had no idea."_**

"Again a very good point. But I don't think its Lydia" Allison pointed out.

 ** _Scott says it might be someone else at school and brings up Matt who was the Kanima Master and responsible for several deaths, saying that back then they "didn't know that he was killing people." Stiles scoffs and points out, correctly, that he'd said Matt was responsible long before they actually learned the truth._**

"I did call that. Both times, here and there" Stiles said with a smirk.

 ** _At his loft back in Beacon Hills, Jennifer Blake struggles to help a badly injured Derek inside. Exhausted from supporting him she drops him on the floor._**

"Gently" Laura hissed.

 ** _At the abandoned mall where the big battle in Frayed took place, Chris Argent is piecing together clues of what happened there._**

"You must be one hell of a hunter if you were able to accurately piece the whole scene out like that from displaced dust particles and foot prints" Stiles said in awe.

 ** _Back at the motel, Scott checks his eye in the bathroom mirror and it suddenly flashes Alpha red._**

"It's happening" Peter said a bit excitedly.

 ** _Stiles is going for a snack and finds Boyd standing at the machine. While Stiles is chatty, Boyd remains silent as he pushes the buttons "2 0 1." When the machine's mechanism stalls and doesn't drop his snack, Stiles offers to help but Boyd simply puts his fist through the glass front of the machine and takes his selection pulling part of the mechanism out as well. Stiles also steals a handful of snacks and heads back up to his room._**

"I should arrest the both of you for this" Noah sighed. "Sorry dad, out of your jurisdiction" Stiles smirked before going back to a pensive look, "Boyd looked very weird there. Anyone else noticed that?" he asked and most of them nodded.

 ** _Allison is in the shower, Lydia has gone to ask for new towels. Scott is in the room. He startles her. Appearing to be in a daze, he starts walking toward her saying they should be closer friends and could perhaps fix their relationship. He grabs her hand and suddenly snaps out of the daze and quickly exits._**

"I should shoot you right where you sit" Chris gritted his teeth. "No wait! I didn't do it. I mean I did do it but it didn't feel like I was in control there" Scott tried to explain. "He is right" Peter added in. Chris made a noise at the back of his throat and looked at the screen again.

 ** _Lydia has gone to ask the motel clerk for new towels. She explains that the ones in their supposedly "smoke-free" room reek of nicotine. The clerk turns toward her revealing that she has a tracheotomy tube in her throat. While it is not as common as is portrayed in popular media, such a device is often presented as a visual short cut to show that a person is a heavy smoker and suffered throat cancer or some other ailment as a side effect. Lydia notices a series of numbers framed on the motel office wall "198." When she asks about them the clerk explains that the 40 year old motel has the highest number of suicides in all of California and they're currently up to #198 "and counting."_**

"Creeps" Lydia shuddered.

 ** _In the room Isaac and Boyd are sharing, Isaac flips through channels of static on the TV. The channel numbers go from 199 to 200 to 201._**

"That has to be a coincidence. Right? Right?" Isaac asked with a nervous laugh but no one answered.

 ** _Chris Argent is still at the abandoned mall. He's on the phone with Allison and offers to come get her. When she mentions the name of the motel he says it sounds familiar. He wants to come get her but she says she's fine. Once they hang up, he sees evidence of her involvement in the battle at the mall. Jennifer removes the tatters of Derek's shirt and, while shocked at his injuries, still manages to flirt saying her gasp of astonishment at the sight of his bare chest "would be for your unbelievable physique if it weren't for the fact that you're bleeding black blood."_**

"Would be nice if she healed him first and then flirted" Laura rolled her eyes.

 ** _Derek passes out and she begs him not to die. She puts her ear to his chest to listen for a heartbeat. Once she hears it she sighs with relief. Lydia works out the math on the motel's suicide numbers. Over 40 years it breaks down to an average of 4.95 suicides per year which, she explains to Allison, isn't unexpected. She still finds it weird that the motel likes the number enough to post it in their office. Lydia then lays out the methods of suicide, "hanging, throat cutting, pill popping, both barrels of a shotgun in the mouth"._**

"Probably uncle Alexander" Chris sighed.

 ** _Lydia then hears the voices of a couple coming through the air vent. The male voice asks the female which one she wants. She replies "the smaller one I guess". He says smaller is better because "there's less kick." Lydia stands and turns toward the vent. She climbs up and stands on the bed to get closer to it. The male voice says "I'll chamber the round." The female then wants to know how they are going to proceed wondering if they go after the count of three or "on three." She ultimately decides they go "one, two, then pull the trigger." They declare their love for one another then the male begins the countdown. A gunshot follows the count of 2. Throughout this exchange, air is flowing through the vent as is evidenced by a silver streamer blowing outward. After the gunshot, the stream falls back against the vent as the airflow is cut off._**

"Oh my god there goes two more" Lydia gasped.

 ** _Allison didn't hear any of the voices but Lydia is convinced and heads to the room next door to investigate. Inside room 217 they find construction equipment but no dead couple. In the grain of the wood paneling Lydia notices what appear to be screaming faces staring back at her._**

"But we just heard people there!" Stiles shouted. "And now we see it was an empty room. Guess I am going crazy" Lydia muttered.

 ** _Boyd is getting ice from the large machine outside in the parking lot. While he is filling his bucket, he hears a girl's voice calling his name. The voice says "don't leave me" and "you weren't supposed to leave me" and "why did you leave me?" and Boyd says the name "Alicia."_**

"Alicia? Who is" Erica wanted to ask, but when she looked at Boyd, the expression he had on made her shut up instantly.

 ** _He then digs down uncovering the face of a young girl buried in the ice. She opens her eyes. Boyd drops the bucket and backs away._**

"Boyd sighs, rubbing his eyes. "Just a hallucination" he kept on uttering to himself.

 ** _Lydia wants to leave but Allison doesn't see the danger because the deaths were suicides not murders and "it's not like this place is haunted, right?" Lydia thinks maybe it is, wondering if the suicide couple she heard were real and did the deed in "that very room." She also wonders if the reason the room is under construction might have to do with trying to remove their brain matter from the paneling._**

"Probably is" Peter snorted.

 ** _Isaac is lying on his bed, eyes closed, when he starts to hear noises like tools and chains. He looks to the ceiling fan which is rattling as it spins above but then is startled to hear his father's voice asking for a 7/16th inch wrench._**

"Oh no" Isaac groaned.

 ** _The voice continues "What the hell? This is the 9/16th you moron." The voice continues berating him about the difference between a 7 and a 9 and calling him a dumbass. Isaac begins to play both parts in the exchange answering as himself and as his father explaining that the difference between a 7 and a 9 is a "stripped bolt." He then starts repeating "I can't fix this now" over and over again until his father's voice tells him to "grab the chains" and "get in the damn freezer." Isaac leaps backwards onto the bed and hides beneath the comforter. He hears whispering and peeks out to find himself in the freezer in the basement at his old house. He screams as the lid slams down, trapping him inside._**

"No no no no no no no" Isacc repeated over and over again. "Isaac" Erica whispered and rubbed his back comfortingly. "It's okay. It's just a nightmare" she said trying to calm the boy down. It took a while, but once Isaac had calmed down, they resumed their watch.

 ** _Back in the motel office, the numbers on the wall have changed from the "198" we saw on Lydia's earlier visit to "201" as she and Allison reenter. The sign says the clerk is gone until 6AM leaving them with no answers about the suicide couple she heard. They wonder about the increase in the death toll and think the number might mean more deaths are about to happen. In Scott's room the phone rings. He answers the call and hears his mother's voice. She seems upset and apologizes saying "he just came in the house" and "I tried to stop him."_**

Scott narrowed his eyes and looked at Peter. "Hey don't look at me" Peter raised his hands in surrender.

 ** _She then tells him to look outside. When he does he sees Deucalion holding his mother by the throat. Deucalion says Derek is dead and that Scott is now the Alpha and he is coming for everyone he loves. He then rips Melissa McCall's throat with his claws and she falls to the pavement._**

"Not real" Scott muttered, clenching his eyes shut and tried to push out the image from inside his head. "Scott?" Melissa looked at her son in worry. "I-I'm fine mom" Scott said shakily and smiled at her.

 ** _Stiles enters and Scott looks away from the parking lot for a moment, when he looks back there is no one, the whole scene with Deucalion and his mother was a hallucination. Stiles gets a text from Lydia on his phone that says "Need to talk. Just you." According to the phone it is 12:21. Danny and Ethan are sharing a room. Shoes, socks and a shirt lay on the floor apparently removed in haste and dropped there. On the bed Ethan, wearing only his jeans and boots, is on top of a nearly fully clothed Danny. Ethan apologizes after kicking some text books off the foot of the bed then teases Danny about bringing homework on the trip and suggests that he let Danny "get back to that." In response Danny pulls Ethan closer and the pair kiss._**

"I don't think we should be seeing this…private moment" Stiles said, looking away.

 ** _Ethan opens Danny's shirt and begins to kiss his chest. Just below the pectoral muscle, there is a scar. When Ethan asks about it Danny explains he has two of them. The scars are from a surgery he had to correct misshapen cartilage with which he was born. They had inserted a bar when he was 14 to support his sternum for two years so that his heart and lungs wouldn't be crushed. Ethan says "what if there was a way you could make them disappear?" He's hinting at the effects of an Alpha bite without saying it. Danny wants to keep his scars. He says they make him feel like a survivor, to which Ethan replies, "I really hope you are."_**

"The gay twin is in love and wants to make a wolf out of his love? How romantic" Erica sighed. "No its not" Derek said but did not elaborate on it.

 ** _They kiss again but as their passion rises, Ethan suddenly arches his back. Ripples appear in the skin around his spine, similar to the effect we saw when the twins merged together. He freaks and runs to the bathroom. Looking in the mirror, he sees a hand and face begin to push out from the skin of his stomach. He returns to Danny, throws on his clothes and runs out of the room._**

"Oh dude! So not cool" Stiles groans.

 ** _Stiles, Allison and Lydia discuss how weird the werewolves are acting. Lydia wants to leave. She grabs the bible out of the desk drawer and says if they don't leave someone needs to do an exorcism before the werewolves go crazy and kill all of them. Stiles wonders if they were drawn to the motel on purpose. Noting that the number in the office went up by three, he says the Darach may be after the werewolves as its next three victims. Noticing something in between the pages of the bible, Stiles takes it from Lydia. They find clippings describing all the suicides that took place in the room in which they are standing._**

"Of all things to keep inside a bible" Claudia shook her head.

 ** _The headlines include "28 year old man hangs himself at the infamous Glen Capri" and "Modern-Day Romeo and Juliet: Suicides Continue at the Glen Capri Motel" and "Local Karate Instructor Commits Hara-Kiri at the Glen Capri." They speculate that there may be similar clippings tucked away in bibles in all the other rooms. Lydia wants to investigate the suicide couple she heard in room 217. They find the door locked and then hear a SKILSAW running inside. They bust into the room to find Ethan holding the saw and preparing to slice into his torso._**

"Woah shit" Scott swore.

 ** _Stiles rushes forward and begins trying to wrestle control of the saw from the Alpha. Lydia notices the power cord for the device and pulls it from the wall just as Siles gets the saw away from Ethan. It falls to the floor and Stiles falls after it, his face stopping just centimeters from the spinning blade._**

"You will give me a heart attack one day you know that" Noah sighed, clutching at his son's shoulder tightly while Claudia just held Stiles close to her.

 ** _Ethan extends his claws and moves to rip open his torso. Stiles and Allison each grab an arm trying to stop him. He tumbles into a space heater and burns his hands. The pain snaps him out of his daze and he seems to have no memory of what's happened. He quickly leaves the room. Back at Derek's loft, Derek is trying to get out of bed but his injuries are too severe. He tells Jennifer that he must "find the others" because they think he is dead. She points out that many characters in literature use false deaths to their advantage. She mentions "Les Misérables" by Victor Hugo, "A Tale of Two Cities" by Charles Dickens and "Romeo and Juliet" by William Shakespeare. She blushes when she mentions the last since it is the story of two lovers and she is still managing to flirt with the nearly dead man before her._**

"Woman has some screwslose in the head if she can think of flirting with a heavily injured man" Laura shook her head.

 ** _Ethan refuses to talk to Stiles, Lydia and Allison about his suicide attempt. He says he doesn't know how he got there or what he was doing. Stiles points out that he should be more helpful since they just saved his life. Ethan responds that they "probably shouldn't have." Allison goes off to find Scott. Stiles reluctantly brings up his theory that Lydia may be connected to all the crazy events since it's very similar to the time she poisoned everybody at her birthday party with wolfsbane._**

"Wolfsbane" Talia mumbled before snapping her fingers, "I know why they are hallucinating" she declared. "Wolfsbane. I figured it out the moment it all started. Keep up is" Peter smirked while Talia scowled at her brother.

 ** _Boyd sits on the bedside. The radio turns itself on with a burst of static. The clock reads "12:46." He quickly switches it off. In two seconds it switches back on with more static and a man's voice asking questions of a child. The man asks "You remember what time it was when you last saw her?" to which the child responds "I don't know I can't remember." The man pushes on saying that "sometimes it helps to put yourself right back in the moment" he then says "Imagine you're seeing Alicia skating on the ice rink, plenty of other people around and then what?". The boy is meek in his response "and then, then she was just gone." Boyd turns off the radio again but within a couple of seconds it's back on. The boy voice on the radio, in a pleading tone, says "I told you, I was watching her. I didn't want to skate anymore. I, I was tired and I swear I was watching her!" The man's voice in a comforting tone continues "It's alright, we're just trying to piece together what happened." Boyd grabs the radio off the nightstand, pulling the cord out of the wall at the same time. As he stares at the now powerless radio, it suddenly lights up again and the voices continue with the boy asking "Is she dead?" and "Is it my fault?" and "Is she dead?" again. Boyd begins to repeat the boys words saying "Is she dead?" and "It's my fault". He throws the radio against the wall, smashing it. The radio again lights up. This time Boyd walks out of the room, crushing the radio with his foot on the way out._**

"Playing the worst memories of one self. This killer is one twisted bitch" Laura snarled while Erica and Isaac comforted Boyd.

 ** _Back at the loft, Derek seems to be feeling better but says Jennifer shouldn't be near him because everyone around him gets hurt. She says she's been hurt before and has a feeling about him. She begins to kiss him, hesitantly at first then with more passion._**

"My my little brother" Laura teased a blushing Derek.

 ** _Boyd enters the motel office and notices the safe. Allison arrives at Scott's room but he's not there. Stiles is still apologizing for suspecting Lydia is responsible for the crazy. Lydia hears a baby crying and a mother yelling at it. She believes it is coming from a large drainage grate in the middle of the parking lot. She kneels to get closer to it and hears a mother preparing to drown her child. Back in Boyd's room the bath is full and the tap shuts off. Boyd stands, holding the heavy safe. He lies back in the water, with the weight of the safe on his chest holding him under the water._**

"Did Lydia just predict a cause of probably death?" Stiles asks. Lydia just nods in confusion.

 ** _Stiles and Lydia rush into the bath. Stiles tries to drain the tub but can't free whatever Boyd used to block the drain. He accidentally backs into the wall heater and burns himself. Remembering how Ethan snapped out of his daze when he was burned, Stiles decides to do the same thing to Boyd. Lydia reminds him that road flares will still burn in water. Stiles runs to the bus to find them. While he is gone, Lydia hears something under the bed. Pulling up the covers, she sees Isaac is hiding under there. He dives away from the light back into shadow. Stiles returns with the flare. They light it and burn Boyd, who throws off the safe and rises from the water his claws and fangs coming out._**

"Thank you" Boyd says quietly. Stile nods with a smile, "any time bud".

 ** _Stiles then returns to Isaac and burns him with the flare. Lydia and Stiles reunite with Allison and they find Scott standing in the parking lot dripping with gasoline and holding another lit road flare as a pool of fuel spreads over the pavement._**

"Ah Scott" Allison says worriedly.

 ** _Scott says there's no hope for him. He says there's no hope for him or for Derek. Derek is having sex with Jennifer._**

"I don't know. I see a very feminine looking hope for Derek" Laura snorted.

 ** _Allison says Derek wasn't Scott's fault but he says no matter what he does, people end up getting hurt and dying. He thinks killing himself might be the best thing he could do for everyone else._**

"That's not true" Allison mumbles, while Melissa clings onto her son from his other side.

 ** _As Derek and Jennifer enjoy a post-coital kiss, his wounds begin to heal until there is not a trace of injury left._**

"Psychology does play a big role in healing" Talia mumbled.

 ** _Scott mourns for the loss of his life before the bite, saying it was better when he was no one special, not good at lacrosse, not popular and not special. He says it would be better to be no one again, no one at all._**

The room became dead silent, hearing Scott say his mind and afraid of what might happen next.

 ** _Stiles steps forward. Tears are streaming down his face as he explains that Scott is someone, his best friend and that he is his brother. He steps into the pool of gasoline saying that if Scott is going to kill himself then Stiles is going with him. Stiles slowly grabs Scott's hand, pries the flare from his fist, and flings it away. It lands on a dry piece of pavement but begins to roll toward the pooling gasoline. Lydia sees what's happening and throws herself at Scott and Stiles pushing them out of harm's way._**

"Thank you" Melissa told Stiles as she cried, clinging to her son who looked far more calm that he looked a minute ago.

 ** _As the fuel explodes, Lydia sees a figure, cloaked, with a deformed face, in the flames._**

"So that's the thing. Oh god looks like it came straight out of a horror movie" Erica shivered.

 ** _The next morning, Coach Finstock finds Boyd, Isaac, Lydia, Allison, Stiles and Scott sleeping on the bus. He announces that the meet has been canceled. Ethan thanks Scott for saving his life and tells him Derek is alive. He also warns him that the death of Ennis, for which Ethan blames Derek, will result in one of two things. Derek will be forced to join the Alpha Pack or Kali will hunt him down and kill him._**

Just what I needed" Derek groaned.

 ** _Lydia notices a purple stain on Finstock's shirt where the coach's whistle rests. She asks to see it and discovers it filled with wolfsbane powder. This means, each time he blew the whistle on the bus, everyone got dosed with wolfsbane which might explain how the Darach caused the hallucinations. Stiles throws it out the window and the bus drives away._**

"That was very clever indeed. I wonder who this Darach is though. Must be someone close if it was able to get a hold of the whistle" Stiles mumbled.

 ** _Chris Argent opens the door to room A151. An old man sitting in a wheelchair reaches down with shaking hands to turn the chair to face his visitor. It's Gerard. Black ooze still leaks from his nose and down his mouth and chin._**

"The thing is still alive!?" Peter growls.

 ** _Chris relays the story of Alexander Argent's final trip to the Motel Glen Capri. He wants to know the name of the Alpha that bit him. Gerard, smiling, says "Deucalion."_**

"Deucalion bit him? That's not possible" Talia said. "Why not? He is an Alpha and Alpha's do bite" Stiles pointed out. Talia shook her head, "Back in that time, Deucalion was more of a visionary and turned only those that wanted him to turn them. If e bit the argent, then either the guy wanted it, which is just impossible and other would be that he was involved in the matter of how Deucalion lost his eyes" she finished with a grave look on her face.


	35. 3-7

**_A number of bloody patients are arriving at the Emergency Room at Beacon Hills Hospital._**

"Looks like a huge accident is just happened" Melissa mumbled.

 ** _Melissa McCall seems overwhelmed. She shouts for an update on the whereabouts of the On-Call Physician, Dr. Hilliard. Scott arrives with takeout for his mother. She explains that half the accident victims from a 10 car pileup have been rerouted from downtown to BHMH and that the ER Attending Physician seems to be missing and isn't answering any of his pages._**

"Missing or taken?" Lydia asks no one in particular.

 ** _While they are talking, a woman with blood on her face asks for pain meds. Melissa explains that giving her something without first examining her could do more harm than good. Scott sits down next to the hurting woman. He explains that he read online that human contact can help alleviate pain. He touches her hand and we can see the veins of his arm fill with a black liquid as he draws the pain out of her. The woman's face eases and she smiles._**

"You just get off of helping others don't you" Peter rolled his eyes.

 ** _Ethan enters, screaming for help as he supports an obviously unwell Danny. In her Mercedes Benz, Dr. Hilliard is using the handsfree feature to call the hospital. She says it's going to take her longer than she thought to make it there as she is slowed by the traffic caused by the 10 car pileup. Ethan explains that Danny began having trouble breathing and chest pains that just kept getting worse. Melissa explains that she thinks he is suffering from Tension Pneumothorax which is when the lung is punctured and air escapes into the chest cavity causing a pressure build up against the heart and difficulty breathing. She also explains that his "Larynx has shifted to the side". Danny then vomits on the floor – the contents of his stomach seem to be a bunch of Mistletoe berries and leafy greens._**

"Danny is a sacrifice!?" Stiles said in horror. "I think he was just a distraction, or maybe he found out something that could do the Darach harm. Otherwise he would have died the same way the others did" Chris pointed out calming the teens.

 ** _Dr. Hilliard is still driving to the hospital when a moth lands on her windshield. She turns on the wipers and whisks it away. A few seconds later an identical moth flies into the car through the air conditioning vent. Scott and Ethan both seem close to panic as Danny is wheeled into an exam room. Melissa further explains that Danny's heart is being pushed up against his chest cavity. Fearing he might die due to the lack of a Doctor, Melissa takes out a large syringe. Danny stops breathing and she jabs the syringe into his left pectoral in what appears to be a procedure called a "needle thoracostomy". Once inserted, needle has a valve that is opened to allow the air to escape and relieve the pressure in his chest. Danny begins to breathe normally. Danny gasps out "Thank you". Scott says the whole thing was "awesome" but Melissa counters that it was no big deal._**

"That was really awesome Mrs. McCall" Allison, Stiles and Lydia said in unison before looking at each other and breaking into laughter.

 ** _Inside Dr. Hilliard's car, more and more moths are flowing through the vents until the car is so full with swarming wings that she can no longer see. In the rear view mirror we see the Darach._**

"And there goes another doctor" mumbled Talia.

 ** _Scott and Ethan exit the hospital. Ethan explains that he didn't do anything to Danny. Scott points out that the minute the twins arrived; Ethan went right for Danny while his brother went for Lydia. Ethan says he won't hurt Danny and explains that they knew one of them, Danny or Lydia, would be important to Scott and now they've figured out that that person is Lydia._**

"So it's all just a big game" Lydia said dejected. "Eh don't fret Lydia. It's his loss and he would be dead soon too" Stiles said with a smile and Noah for a moment had the feeling that the werewolves weren't the one who were going to do the killing.

 ** _Dr. Hilliard's car rolls into the parking lot striking another car. There is no one inside but Scott finds a single moth on the driver's seat. While Sheriff Stilinski takes Melissa's statement about the two missing doctors, Stiles and Scott work out that these latest disappearances are definitely part of the Darach sacrifices. Stiles remembers Deaton mentioned healers as one of the groups of three that might be targets. They are confused as to why Danny was fed mistletoe since it doesn't fit the pattern._**

"My thoughts exactly" Stiles said. "That's because it is your thought" Lydia rolled her eyes with a small smile.

 ** _Scott listens in on the Sheriff's phone conversation and learns they've found another body. At the crime scene, Aiden and Deucalion arrive. Aiden explains what is going on to the blind Alpha. Also in the crowd is Chris Argent. He seems notices the werewolves but simply stands his ground. At the loft, the intruder alarm begins to sound and Derek jumps into action. Cora joins him and asks what the Alpha Symbol painted on the loft's window means. He says it means they're coming, "tonight."_**

"Shit I forgot about that" Laura muttered.

 ** _Melissa wakes to find Isaac and Scott asleep at the foot of her bed. They explain they were watching over her to make sure she wasn't taken as the third sacrifice. Melissa explains that she's not a doctor so she is in the clear. Scott says it could be any kind of healer and she was definitely a healer with Danny last night._**

"I don't think one act of healing makes you a healer Scott" Chris said. Scott nodded with a smile, "I guess".

 ** _At School, Jennifer Blake is taking over Chemistry class since Adrian Harris disappeared. Stiles explains to Scott that the ER Attending didn't die like the other sacrifices. He wasn't strangled but did die from asphyxiation. Scott wonders if Dr. Hilliard, the on-call doctor, might still be alive. Deaton calls Scott and explains that he will be the next to be taken and he needs Scott to find him. He is holding a moth while thousands of other moths swarm the windows of the animal clinic blocking out the sun._**

"Now him. He is definitely a healer" Chris said.

 ** _Boyd and Isaac have left school claiming to be sick. They go to Derek's Loft because Boyd has come up with a plan to lay a trap for the Alpha Pack. They want to flood the loft with water and run a live electric current through it. He got the idea from Gerard who captured and was able to render Boyd and Erica helpless by running an electrical current through their bodies._**

"That is a good idea. Well done Boyd" Talia smiled at the smiling teen.

 ** _Scott arrives at the animal clinic to find the Sheriff and Deputy Tara Graeme already there. Stiles called his father as soon as Scott left school. Unfortunately, they all arrived too late and Deaton is gone. Boyd explains that, in a pool of electrified water, it would take up to 50 milliamps to kill a normal human. That is less than the power it takes to turn on a light bulb. He plans to disable the circuit interrupter in the building's electrical room so that the current will keep flowing through the flooded loft. Stiles has joined Scott at the clinic. The sheriff promises to do everything he can to find Deaton and urges both boys to return to school. Scott takes Stiles into the Cat Clinic so they can talk privately. Scott believes they have to tell Stiles dad about the supernatural elements of the crimes, werewolves and other stuff they've been lying about._**

"That would be very helpful" Noah said.

 ** _Stiles is taken aback. He points out that Scott's mom couldn't look her son in the eye for weeks after learning the truth. Scott counters that his mom got over it and their relationship is closer now because she knows the truth. Stiles argues that his dad is already overwhelmed with the case. Scott counters again, saying he is overwhelmed because he has no clue why people in the town he is supposed to protect are dying. Scott pushes saying the Sheriff will find out sooner or later. Stiles waffles over if right now is the right time but then gets to the heart of why he doesn't want to tell his father the truth. He is afraid that it might get him killed and he can't bear the thought of losing another parent._**

"You will not lose me so easily son" Noah smiled and pulled him into a hug which Stiles returned with everything he had. Claudia watched the two with a teary eyed smile.

 ** _Scott acquiesces and says Stiles is right – but Stiles realizes he is not right and should tell him. Scott says he'll help. When they return to the clinic's lobby, Ms. Morrell is there begging the sheriff to do whatever it takes to "find my brother". Once the Sheriff leaves, she approaches Scott and Stiles and explains that no one in law enforcement is going to find Deaton. She says if they hope to find him they need to use the one person who may actually have the ability to seek out the supernatural. Stiles immediately realizes she is talking about Lydia._**

"Why is it me?" Lydia asks. "Because you find bodies when they are fresh out of the murder lot" Stiles points out making Lydia sigh.

 ** _Lydia and Aiden are making out in Coach Bobby Finstock's office. She strips off his shirt as they embrace on top of the desk. The fire alarm sounds. Lydia moves to leave but Aiden hesitates because, he says, fire alarms seldom indicate real emergencies. She points out that is just the type of thing students might say before getting burned alive._**

"Oh god the hormones in you two" Peter shook his head in disgust.

 ** _Aiden leaves first. Lydia is set to follow but Cora blocks her way. She says Lydia doesn't have very good taste in guys. Doctor Hilliard's body is found and brought to the hospital. Melissa takes Sheriff Stilinski aside to show him what she's found on the other doctor's body. She shows him the ER on-call's body and explains that he suffocated by a process akin to crucifixion. The person is suspended from the ceiling by their hands in a way that cuts off the airway. They would have to keep pulling themselves up in order to take a breath and eventually would give out of strength and suffocate._**

"God that's painful" Isaac winced.

 ** _Cora won't let Lydia leave. Derek has sent her to ask Lydia to stop seeing Aiden. Cora threatens to pull Lydia's tongue out of her head if she catches them together again. Lydia counters that her last boyfriend "was a homicidal lizard" so she thinks handling a werewolf won't be any trouble. Cora grabs her wrist and only lets go when Stiles arrives and demands it._**

"Like brother like sister" Stiles sighs. "And what is that supposed to mean!?" Laura glared at him. Stiles moved his arms around, "Nothing n-nothing" he stammered.

 ** _Scott hears a steady tapping in the hallway at school. He follows the sound and finds Deucalion in the music room. The Alpha explains about metronomes comparing the tempo setting mechanism to Scott's life saying its tempo has sped up considerably in just the past few hours. He then says he can help Scott find Deaton if Scott can take the cane from his hand. Scott tries all sorts of acrobatic moves against the older werewolf and is effectively stopped by the blind man's cane each time._**

"How can a blind man move like that? It's like he can see but can't see at the same time" Stiles mumbled.

 ** _Deucalion then slashes him with the blade hidden in the tip of his cane and explains that he is not behind the rash of ritual murders, saying he's not the one praying to ancient gods or gathering herbs or "whatever the hell druids are supposed to do." Deucalion admits he IS part of the Pack that wants Derek dead and that Kali is coming for him. He says Scott will have a difficult choice to make. Someone is going to die, Derek or Deaton, and the decision is up to Scott._**

"He will definitely pick Deaton" Derek snorted. "I don't know Derek. Knowing Scott he will try on both" Allison smirked at the eyebrow raised wolf.

 ** _Deucalion leaves him with a cryptic clue – "follow the current." Stiles and Cora have Lydia try the Ouija board to find Dr. Deaton. It doesn't work._**

"Of course it doesn't! Those are just fake pieces or wood" Peter rolled his eyes.

 ** _Stiles then tries Psychometry, the psychic ability to discern facts about the owner of an object by simply touching an object. He gives her Deaton's keys although she points out that she is NOT a psychic. This too fails to get any results. Finally, Stiles gives Lydia a pencil to attempt automatic writing or psychography which is writing produced from a subconscious psychic ability. Lydia draws a tree and explains again that she is NOT psychic._**

"Why do you keep drawing the very same tree every single time?" Erica asks. Lydia shrugs, "No clue".

 ** _Stiles is frustrated by her failure but Lydia says they shouldn't be talking to her. Instead, she says, they should be talking to Danny. Scott arrives and explains that Danny was a target, but wasn't a sacrifice._**

"Scott I get but how did you know he was a target?" Stiles asks Lydia who shrugs again.

 ** _Cora, Lydia, Stiles and Scott are heading off to find Danny at the hospital when Scott gets a text from Allison. She says she's found something he needs to see at her apartment and Scott leaves to others to find Danny. Boyd throws the switch and electrifies the flooded floor of Derek's loft. Isaac wonders aloud if the trap will kill the Alphas. Boyd says he hopes it will._**

"I don't think it will. Shock and temporary paralysis maybe but not death" Peter says.

 ** _At her apartment, Allison tells Scott that she found a blacklight in one of her father's desk drawers. The elevator "dings" and the pair hide in Allison's closet as Chris returns to the apartment. While in the confined space, Scott becomes aroused and Allison can feel his erection. She tries turning his back to him but Scott says that makes it worse. She turns back around and the pair are close to kissing but Scott stumbles back and they freeze fearing the noise will alert her father._**

"Oh my God" Stiles rubs his forehead while the couple blushed.

 ** _Then they hear the front door open and close indicating Chris has gone out again, they exit the closet and Allison shows him a map of Beacon Hills on his desk. Under a blacklight, special marks showing all the recent supernatural events - where people were taken, where bodies were found – can be seen. There are also marks that Allison believes are predictive of where future victims will be found. Chris returns, Allison pretends to be studying while Scott sneaks out behind her father._**

"That's kinda funny" Laur snorts.

 ** _Stiles tries to wake Danny, tapping him gently on the face a few times before smacking him harder. Stiles then decides to search Danny's bag. When Danny wakes, Stiles tells him that it's all a dream and continues searching until he finds a research proposal Danny wrote for Mr. Harris' physics class. The research proposal is for a paper on "Telluric Currents," extremely low frequency electrical currents that flow naturally through the earth._**

"Currents!" Stiles jumps up and sits back down when everyone shouts at him.

 ** _Scott tells Stiles about the marked locations on Chris Argent's map showing the places bodies will be found. Stiles explains Danny's research and Scott latches onto the word "currents" since that is what Deucalion told him to follow. Isaac and Boyd are waiting in their trap at the loft when Isaac notices the intruder alert light is not on. Derek realizes that the auxiliary power has been cut. Boyd mentions the main power, which powers the trap, just as the lights go out._**

"Well there goes that plan" Boyd sighed.

 ** _Figuring the power is now off and the flooded floor is harmless, Derek steps out into the water and prepares to fight the Alphas he knows are on their way. Kali forces the door open and offers a short speech about her thought process. She says when Ennis died, she initially thought to simply find Derek and kill him where he stood but then she remembered how Derek surrounds himself with teenagers "hiding behind them." She wondered what she would have to do to get him alone and decided that kidnapping and threatening Ms. Blake might work._**

"These stupid Alpha's never love it fair do they?" Stiles sighed. "Nothing is fair in life. Deal with it" Peter said.

 ** _Aiden and Ethan enter holding Jennifer. Kali says that the fight will be between she and Derek with no interference or the twins will tear Jennifer apart. Derek sends Isaac and Boyd away and faces Kali one on one. Derek promises her that he will "rip your throat out with my teeth."_**

"You tell her Derek!" Laura whooped.

 ** _Scott, Stiles, Lydia and Cora have met up at the Animal Clinic. They're going over Danny's paper and find a map of the telluric currents that run through the ground of Beacon Hills. Learning that Harris wrote a note on the paper saying Danny should not pursue the research, Scott realizes that the teacher knew something was going on. Stiles also points out that Beacon Hills has a high number of the currents flowing through it making it an actual "beacon" of energy._**

"Beacon for the supernatural?" Stiles suggested.

 ** _When they combine Danny's map with Chris Argent's map they find likely locations for the future body dumps and figure Deaton is being held somewhere along the telluric current that runs between where he was taken and where his body will be found. Cora realizes the Bank where she and Boyd were held is on that current's path. Cora gets a text from Boyd who explains that the plan didn't work because the Alphas cut the power. The group decides to split up, with Stiles, Cora and Lydia going to the loft to help Derek while Scott heads to the Bank to find Deaton._**

"See. Helping both" Allison smiled.

 ** _Scott arrives at the bank vault where Deaton is suspended by his arms. He hangs limply. Scott rushes forward but is shoved backwards with a flash of light. He realizes that Deaton is surrounded by a circle of Mountain Ash. Scott tries again to penetrate the force, pushing against it with all his might filling the room with a blue glow. His eyes shine yellow then red as he pushes harder and harder but the mystical force will not bend and Scott is thrown back to the floor._**

"Did he almost not only become an Alpha, but also break through mountain ash?" Laura asked in shock. "You'll make a powerful Alpha Scott" Talia smiled at the fidgeting teen.

 ** _He looks on helplessly as Deaton hangs there. Sheriff Stilinski is suddenly in the doorway of the vault, gun in hand. He fires at the rope and Deaton drops to the ground._**

"Dad to the rescue" Stiles cheers.

 ** _Stiles, Cora and Lydia arrive at the loft where Derek has been holding his own in hand to hand combat with Kali. They head to the electrical room and begin flipping all the switches. Stiles texts Isaac to explain that they're there and are about to turn the power back on. Isaac rushes to protect Ms. Blake, while Boyd is thrown into the fray by the surging current. Kali and Derek both go down from the shock. Kali is the first to recover and orders the twins to grab Derek and hold him with his hands cupped while she lifts Boyd up and drops him onto Derek's claws. Boyd is impaled on Derek's claws, Derek's eyes glow a bit brighter red and Boyd gasps in pain._**

"How dare they!" Laura growls in anger. Boyd looked on in shock as he watched himself get impaled by the claws of his Alpha. But he couldn't blame him, after all they forcefully made Derek do it. Everyone looked at Boyd to see that he was handling himself quite well, so they looked at Derek and was shocked to see a tear roll down his cheeks.

 ** _As she exits, Kali gives Derek an ultimatum – join the Alpha Pack by the next full moon or she will kill all of Derek's pack next time. As the twins follow her out, Ethan seems slightly remorseful. Derek applies pressure to Boyd's wounds trying in vain to stop the bleeding. Derek apologizes but Boyd says it's okay. He says the feeling he got on the full moon was worth it. He then begins talking about a lunar eclipse and what that might feel like for a werewolf._**

Derek began to shake as he watched someone die by his hands in his arms. He shut his eyes tightly trying not to think about it, trying to push back the memories of something similar happening a long time back.

 ** _Just before his death, Boyd remembers Erica talking about what might happen to werewolves during a lunar eclipse. While they were being held by the Alphas in the vault, she supposed that an eclipse might make them stronger. She then attacks Kali and is killed. Boyd dies. Stiles and Cora rush in. Derek seems stunned. His hands are shaking. Cora runs to Boyd weeping while Stiles places his hand on Derek's shoulder to comfort him. Lydia, Isaac and Jennifer can only watch stunned._**

"You died fighting" Boyd smiled at Erica who seemed to be a bit cheered up by the fact that she didn't die lying down and fought.

 ** _In Gerard's room, Chris demands to know the truth about Deucalion. After Chris leaves, Allison shows up. Gerard says he's not surprised to see her but is surprised that it took her so long to visit._**

"Of course" Allison rolled her eyes.

 ** _The sheriff explains to Scott and Deaton that he figured out where Deaton was because one of the Celtic symbols on one of the vials at the vet clinic reminded him of the bank's logo. Deaton tells Scott about his eyes changing colors. He says Scott is a "True Alpha" one who rises on strength of character and sheer force of will as opposed to those who take the status from another Alpha. Deaton says it's rare, happening only once in a hundred years but that he believed Scott had this potential in him since he was first bitten._**

"That's some belief he has in you there Scott. You're lucky you have people like that" Isaac muttered. Scott looked at Isaac a bit worried.

 ** _Scott realizes that this "True Alpha" status is what Deucalion has been after. He realizes that he is the target instead of Derek._**

"Took you long enough" Stiles rolled his eyes. "Dude we just learned that now. You included" Scott pointed out and Stiles laughed.


	36. 3-8

**_Derek runs through a foggy wood. He trips and falls in front of one of the hunters' ultrasonic emitters, a device which broadcasts a high pitch designed to herd werewolves in a certain direction. More than a dozen hunters are in the woods with flashlights, guns and crossbows._**

"Teen Derek is…hot" Lydia mumbled. "I would totally date that" Erica muttered making Derek blush.

 ** _Young Derek runs into another young man who recognizes him as "a Hale" just before an arrow pierces through the back of the young man's neck and lodges in his throat. Stunned, Derek just stands there as a hunter takes aim at him with a crossbow. As the shaft flies toward him, his Uncle Peter steps up and grabs it out of the air. Both boys run._**

"Peter wasn't bad looking either" Lydia mumbled making Peter puff his chest in pride and then deflate when he heard her say he lost it to age later on in life.

 ** _Gerard and Chris Argent, flanked by several other hunters, approach the young man's dead body. Chris says the dead man "killed two of ours" and orders the hunters to find Peter and Derek but to bring them in alive according to the Hunter's Code. Derek and Peter take refuge in the basement of an abandoned house. There is a large tree growing up through the foundation._**

"Basement with the roots of a tree? Kinda creepy if you ask me" Stiles mumbled.

 ** _In the present at Derek's Loft, Cora explains to Stiles that her uncle and brother were in the basement hiding for two days. She says "hide and heal" is what werewolves are taught to do when the hunters find them._**

"Really?" Scott asked. Talia nodded, "we do not kill unless it's necessary. Hunters usually do what they think is their job so we do not attack back" she mumbled. "That's just ridiculous" Boyd said plainly.

 ** _Stiles is impatient with Cora's story. He doesn't understand how it will help him find Derek in the here and now. He indicates that Derek has not been seen since Boyd's death. Stiles thinks, since everyone seems to be after Derek, that he should be around to deal with the crisis. Cora says Derek has changed since she knew him. Peter elaborates saying Derek was once like Scott. Derek was apparently once "unbearably romantic" and "profoundly narcissistic"._**

"That is true now that you mention it. Scott does remind me of Derek from back then" Laura muttered. "Maybe this is why Derek is so interested in Scott. He sees himself in him" Allison said. Derek did not respond even in the slightest to everything that was being said.

 ** _Peter says Derek's experience with a girl changed his personality and the color of his eyes from yellow to blue._**

"What does make the eye color of a wolf change? Isn't it genetics?" Stiles asked. "No it isn't and I think you will find out about it soon" Laura said.

 ** _Scott and Allison visit Gerard to find out what he knows about the Alpha Pack. The old man forces Scott to take away some of his pain before he will talk to them._**

"Typical Gerard" Chris rolled his eyes.

 ** _In the past, a girl named Paige is practicing the cello in the Beacon Hills High School Music Classroom. The noise from a bouncing basketball in the hallway is competing with her metronome and screwing up the steady rhythm._**

Derek's eyes widened when he saw Paige. He stood up and walked out of the room so fast that nobody had the chance to stop him. Laura was about to get up as well when her mother stopped her. She shook her head," leave him alone for now" she said quietly but loud enough for her to hear. Laura nodded and sat down again looking a bit worried.

 ** _She steps into the hall where a group of teenage boys and Young Derek Hale are bouncing the ball. She asks them to stop. Derek cockily tells her he will stop if she can take the ball. She makes a few half-hearted attempts at a steal as Derek shows off with trick dribbling. She then just turns around and returns to the Music Room._**

"Typical high school jock" Peter rolled his eyes. "Why are you rolling your eyes? You were very much the same" Talia snorted.

 ** _Derek follows and apologizes. He asks her name but she refuses to tell him unless he "can play one instrument in this room"._**

"Derek apologized? Man he must really have liked his girl" Stiles said. "You have no idea" Peter sighed.

 ** _He spends a short amount of time scanning shelves stacked with musical instruments before returning to her with something behind his back. He produces a triangle and strikes it gently with the metal beater producing a single clear note. She acquiesces and says her name is "Paige." He offers his name but she says "I know who you are"._**

"A big shot in high school? The Hale name must have been pretty big back then" Lydia said. "It was. We were one of the richest in the whole town" Laura explained.

 ** _Because a third healer was found dead right after Dr. Deaton was rescued, Gerard hints that Deaton is behind the Darach's killing spree. He suggests that Deaton staged his kidnapping and, knowing he would survive, had the third victim strung up already. Scott protests saying Deaton would never let anyone innocent die. Gerard says Scott would be surprised how far someone would go to get rid of someone like Deucalion. "Or someone like you?" Allison quips._**

"Well she is correct" Chris sighed.

 ** _Gerard laughs and says the events have turned him into a celebrity with his doctors. He is now almost cancer free but no one can figure out why he continues to produce and expel the viscous black fluid from his nose and mouth. Scott becomes impatient and demands that Gerard tell them how to beat Deucalion. Gerard says "you can't. I've tried." Allison stands up and heads toward the door saying Gerard has wasted their time. The old man calls for her to wait. Then Gerard offers up the cryptic advice that Deucalion has lost his eyes but that he's not always blind._**

"Hmm is that possible?" Scott asked. "It is" Talia nodded but did not say more.

 ** _Stiles is confused. According to Peter's story, Derek was a sophomore when he fell for Paige. Stiles wants to know his age at the time, he also questions Peter's age back then and now. He gets the cryptic response "not as young as we could have been but not as old as you might think" as Peter avoids the question. He then asks Cora her age. She responds that she is 17 which Stiles finds a satisfyingly direct answer. Then she further confuses and frustrates the topic by saying "17 how you would measure in years." Stiles drops the question of werewolf ages._**

"Yes it can get confusing" Laura laughed.

 ** _Peter continues his tale of Derek's whirlwind teenage romance with Paige. Derek had a favorite getaway, an abandoned distillery outside Beacon Hills. While Peter claims Derek told him all this because Peter was his nephew's closest friend and confidant, we see that he is lying to Stiles. Peter was actually spying on Derek and Paige as they made out in the distillery._**

"Oh God you were a creep even before you went psychotic" Lydia shivered.

 ** _The couple's encounter is cut short when Derek smells blood and hears people approaching. The couple leave the distillery but Peter remains behind and watches as Ennis, Kali and Deucalion arrive with their packs in full. Ennis is angry. He points to a frayed rope hanging from the ceiling and indicates that it was in that spot that the Argents killed one of his Betas. Kali wants to know why she should care about another's pack. One of her Betas speaks up and says the Argents don't discern between packs when they come after a werewolf._**

"True but is still doesn't answer her question" Scott said. "I kinda did buddy. She meant that the Argents would come after them next" Stiles explained. "Oh" was all Scott could say.

 ** _Deucalion points out that the hunters do discern motive. One of Deucalion's Betas, Marco, says that Ennis' dead Beta was young and naive and killed a hunter. Ennis says it was an accident. Gerard picks up the tale from that point. He explains to Scott and Allison that each member of the current Alpha Pack had once gathered in Beacon Hills with their own packs in tow to seek guidance and advice from Alpha Talia Hale. Derek's mother was well known and widely respected in the werewolf community partly because she had the rare ability to fully shape-shift into a full wolf._**

"Can't all werewolves do that?" Scott asked. "Not everyone. Only a few in history were shown to have this ability. Reason why it's so well respected and feared at the same time" Peter explained. "Why feared?" Stiles asked. "Well a werewolf who can shift into a complete wolf would be very close to nature and as such their senses and stuff would be on another level making them that much more dangerous than a normal werewolf" Talia explained with a smile.

 ** _Talia explains to Deucalion that vendetta is Ennis' right and that they are not the only people to adhere to rituals "thousands of years old." Deucalion says that's no excuse for not evolving. Ennis has grown tired of the "useless debate". He yells that the hunters ripped out his Beta's claws one by one when they tortured him. Deucalion begs him not to become an "historical cliché." He cautions that a battle between two such powers will never end at "an eye for an eye." Deucalion believes it will escalate to all-out war if Ennis pursues vendetta against the Argents. Ennis doesn't care. He uses his claws to make an enormous spiral, slicing it into a wall of corrugated metal so fast that the metal sparks and heats up to the point that it is glowing._**

"Deucalion…was the voice of reason?" Stiles asks. "He was yes but then the eye thing happened and he lost it" Peter explained.

 ** _Peter draws a similar spiral with his finger on the condensation collecting on the window in Derek's Loft and explains to Stiles that it is their symbol for vendetta. Stiles, referencing Peter's own revenge fueled killing spree, says werewolves take the revenge thing to a whole new level. Cora says it's not just about revenge. She says losing a member of the pack is more painful than losing a member of your family she says "it's like you lose a limb"._**

"That painful huh?" Scott mused.

 ** _Peter then relates how Beacon Hills' authorities wouldn't let Ennis see the body of his dead Beta. We see a distraught Ennis menacing an orderly at Beacon Hills Hospital. Deputy Stilinski arrives and tries to calm Ennis explaining that they are investigating the death as a homicide. He further explains that no matter how close Ennis was to the deceased, they were not family. Ennis, still angry but also heartbroken, says "he was family to me."_**

"If Ennis the over grown hunk of a werewolf is feeling this, I wonder how Derek would be feeling after losing to of his own" Laura sighed.

 ** _Peter says he looked at Ennis' situation and saw profound loss but that Derek saw opportunity to always be with Paige. This is a lie. The truth was the opposite._**

Talia narrowed her eyes.

 ** _In the past, Young Derek sits in class using his heightened senses to listen to Paige play Franz Schubert's "Ave Maria." He makes his way to the Music Classroom and tries to distract her from her "laser-like focus" on playing by gently brushing his lips along the outside of her ear. It works and she stops playing. They declare their love for one another and kiss._**

"Well this is cute" Erica mutters with a small smile.

 ** _Peter then claims that Derek lived in constant fear that Paige would find out he was a werewolf but we see, in the past, that this is another lie. It was Peter who went to great lengths to convince Derek that if Paige found out it would end their relationship._**

Talia's eyes widened before she began to growl under her breath. Laura looked at her mom and moved away from fear. She went to sit beside Lydia who looked at her with a raised eyebrow.

 ** _Young Peter wants to know why Paige eats alone during lunch at school. Young Derek threatens to have him banned from campus but Peter says no one would ban him because he's too good looking. He questions if Paige has any friends. Derek says she does but that she likes to study during lunch and he thinks she doesn't like his friends. Peter says no one should like Derek's friends calling them "hormonal half-wits." He then opines that Derek and Paige are perfect for each other. He says "perfect combinations are rare" while opening and eating a Reese's Peanut Butter. Peter then goes on to plant the seed that Derek should turn Paige into a werewolf so she won't leave him._**

"How dare you!?" Talia growled and faced her brother, her eyes now the Alpha red.

 ** _Peter continues to lie to Stiles and Cora claiming that he tried to talk Derek out of turning Paige even though we see, in the past, Peter telling Derek to have one of the Alphas in town bite and turn Paige._**

She suddenly got up and pinned Peter against a wall, holding him up by his throat. "Talia let me" but Peter couldn't say more, the grip around his neck got stronger and was making it difficult for him to breath. "Talia calm down" Chris said slowly. "He ruined my boy's life!" she growled eyes flashing dangerously when suddenly both Peter and Talia were both flung back into their seats with them both being restrained. The two tried to move but were stuck. The screen sizzled, the episode being replaced by writing for a minute. _"The past can't be changed so just shut up and watch. If you want to kill him, then do it later when you get back"_ the writing disappeared and the episode resumed.

 ** _Gerard and Chris Argent are examining the basement where Peter and Derek hid from the hunters. They notice the large tree growing out of the foundation and a symbol painted on its trunk. Chris explains that it is a fivefold knot a Druid symbol and that the blood on the trunk of the tree indicates some sort of sacrifice took place there. He says the basement is a "Nemeton," a sacred space for ancient druids. According to Chris, druids picked a large, older tree in a grove to represent the center of the world. Many believed that cutting or harming the tree would bring severe problems like fires, plagues, strife, "death and destruction of all kinds" to surrounding villages._**

"All that from a super charged tree? Man I'm going green" Isaac said.

 ** _Allison questions Gerard about why her father would know so much about druids. Gerard says "know thy enemy" and goes on to describe the relationship ancient werewolves had with the druids which the wolves called "emissaries." He then recounts to the tale of Lycaon, an ancient Greek:_**

 ** _According to myth, some Greek citizens believed they owed their lives more to Prometheus than to the gods of Olympus. Some followers even took names to honor the titans instead of the gods like Deucalion who is named after the son of Prometheus. Lycaon didn't just refuse to honor the gods, he challenged them. He invited Zeus to a banquet where he tried to serve him the flesh of a human being. Angered, Zeus blew the place apart with his lightning bolts and then punished Lycaon and his sons by turning them into wolves. Lycaon sought out the druids to help turn him back to human. The belief was that the ancient druids knew how to shape shift. They couldn't make Lycaon and his sons human again but they did teach him how to shift back and forth. And so the druids became important advisers to the packs._**

"That is a cool story" Stiles said.

 ** _Cora picks up the story explaining that the druid emissaries keep the werewolves connected to humanity but are kept a secret even within the pack. Sometimes only the Alpha knows their identity. Peter then tells a startled Stiles, that Ms. Morrell is emissary to the Alpha Pack. Stiles wants to know why the werewolves never tell him important things like this. He says he shared a number of really intimate details with Ms. Morrell. Stiles admits that she gave him good advice and Peter says that's what emissaries do._**

The room chuckled lightly.

 ** _Deaton is in conference with Talia and Deucalion at the Animal Clinic. Deucalion wants to approach Gerard about a truce, a call for peace between the Argents and the packs. Talia says Gerard might be the wrong one to approach. Deaton thinks this is because the Argents have a matriarchal leadership structure but Talia says Gerard is the wrong one because he is a "complete psychopath" who "cuts people in half with a broadsword." Deucalion is surprised that Deaton and Talia have so little faith in people saying he believes Gerard must be worried about the deaths on his own side as well. Deaton then trots out the old story of the Scorpion and the Frog:_**

 ** _A scorpion and a frog meet on the bank of a stream and the scorpion asks the frog to carry him across on its back. The frog asks, "How do I know you won't sting me?" The scorpion says, "Because if I do, I will die too."_**

 ** _The frog is satisfied, and they set out, but in midstream, the scorpion stings the frog. The frog feels the onset of paralysis and starts to sink, knowing they both will drown, but has just enough time to gasp "Why?"_**

 ** _Replies the scorpion: "It's my nature..."_**

 ** _The story is to point out to Deucalion that his faith in humanity won't matter if he underestimates Gerard's nature._**

 ** _Talia then advises that Deucalion meet Gerard on neutral ground and to not walk in alone. Deucalion says "I'm an Alpha. I never walk alone."_**

"The way he approached things. Deucalion was so much like Scott that it's astonishing" Allison mumbled.

 ** _At school, Paige is alone in the darkened hallway. She has a note in her hand which seems to be a request from Derek to meet him at the school. Instead of her love, Ennis shows up and begins to chase her through the school. Derek sits alone in the locker room bouncing a basketball and listens to Paige whimper and cry. Cora is surprised that Young Derek would have asked Ennis to turn Paige. Peter says he was the perfect choice since he had just lost a pack member and by doing a favor for Derek, Ennis thought he would gain a place in Talia's good graces. Stiles says Derek doesn't remember it was Ennis and Peter says if he does remember he hasn't said so._**

"He probably doesn't" Talia said, finally a bit calmed down. "How can you be sure?" Stiles asked. "I took his memories away" she simply said.

 ** _Young Peter was also at the school that night listening to Ennis attack Paige. Derek reaches the point that he can't stand to listen to Paige's suffering anymore and rushes to help her. He finds her crawling along the floor of the hall and goes after Ennis to stop him. Ennis easily tosses the young man away then holds him on the floor. Derek sees that Paige is already bitten and stops fighting._**

"I have a really bad feeling here" Lydia muttered, eyes wide.

 ** _Gerard relates how Deaton came to arrange the meeting with Deucalion. Gerard says he wasn't surprised and quotes English Poet William Blake who said "When a sinister person means to be your enemy, they always start by trying to become your friend." Scott questions how Gerard knew Deucalion wasn't actually trying to make peace and Gerard says "because I'm not an idiot". He then relates the 'Scorpion and Frog' story too but in his version, which he describes as a "Sanskrit Fable", he replaces the frog with a turtle but the outcome is the same – It's my nature._**

"Nature my ass! You just wanted him gone forever" Allison growled.

 ** _Gerard says he knows a werewolf's nature and knew that Deucalion's offer of a peace meeting was a trap. This is a lie. Gerard was waiting with several hunters when Deucalion arrived at the abandoned distillery with three members of his pack. Gerard says the meeting place is fitting because "distillation is the separating of two substances by pushing them into their individual volatile states." Picking up on this, Deucalion says volatile is the state he is hoping to avoid. Gerard then cranks open a valve releasing a white gas into the room from several sources. Both werewolves and humans go down from the effects of the gas. Gerard jabs himself with what appears to be an autoinjector syringe. It is not clear what's in the syringe but it makes him immune to whatever is affecting the others._**

"That son of a bitch!" Chris roared. "He told me Deucalion killed them! He will pay for what he did" Chris said in pure anger.

 ** _When relating the tale to Allison and Scott, Gerard lies and claims Deucalion ambushed him. What really happened after the release of the gas had them down, Gerard took out a homemade spiked mace. He uses it to beat down his own men as the hunters struggle to get to their feet. Deucalion is shocked not only by the attack but by the fact that Gerard is killing his own men too. Gerard says the hunters with him also believed in peace with werewolves and therefore had to go. He says their deaths will be blamed on Deucalion. Peter is finishing up the tale of Derek and Paige. He says the bite didn't take with Paige. He says it should have because she was young and strong but that sometimes it just doesn't happen._**

"Okay so Paige died. How does it relate to the eye thing?" Stiles asked. "You'll see" Talia said in sadness.

 ** _Paige was in pain and dying slowly. As Peter skulked in the shadows, Derek held her at the base of the druid tree in the basement of the abandoned house._**

"Oh my" Allison said, hands over her mouth.

 ** _Deucalion crawls out of the distillery and rolls over in the dirt as Gerard stalks after him. Deucalion begs the old man not to harm him further saying he had "a vision of peace". Gerard mocks him saying his vision was "short-sighted". He then produces two of the hunter's flash-bang arrows and thrusts them deep into Deucalion's eyes. They explode, sparks and smoke pour from his damaged eye sockets._**

"Oh my God!" Erica screamed at the brutality while the wolves all began to growl.

 ** _Derek takes away as much of Paige's pain as he can but she is still suffering terribly. She explains that she knew he was different._**

"She knew" Laura said, her voice suddenly breaking a little.

 ** _She suspected he was a werewolf because she had seen strange things in town and also because of the way he spoke saying he'd "caught a scent." She knows she is going to die and asks him to end it and he does by gently breaking her neck._**

"You told me he killed hunters!" Laura suddenly stood up, tears running down her cheek. "It was a private moment. Derek didn't want anyone to know" Talia said quietly, her own eyes leaking tears. Laura sat back down again and bit her lips hard, trying not to break down into tears after seeing how much her brother had lost at that young age.

 ** _Peter explains that he took Paige's body to the woods where she would be found and her death attributed to another in a long line of Beacon Hills' animal attacks. He then tells Stiles that killing an innocent takes a piece of a werewolf's soul making it a bit darker. This shows up in the eyes, turning Derek's from a golden yellow to a cold blue._**

"But he didn't kill for fun. He saved someone from the pain. That has to mean something" Scott said a bit defensively. Talia shook her head, her restraints coming lose now, "It doesn't matter why. A kill is enough to do that" she sighed.

 ** _Doctor Deaton treated Deucalion's injured eyes as best he could at the animal clinic. He explains that, while the tissue will grow back, his sight will not return. Deucalion lets out a roar of rage and then asks to be left alone. Talia and Dr. Deaton exit but Deucalion's Beta Marco remains. When the Alpha again asks that he be left alone, Marco attacks him. Deucalion partially transforms and realizes that he can see Marco and turns toward him, attacking quickly and viciously, killing him on the examination table._**

"SO that's how he found out" Erica muttered.

 ** _Gerard finishes his story telling Scott that Deucalion can see as a wolf. Allison wonders aloud if they can take advantage of that fact. Gerard again asks Scott to take some of his pain. Scott obliges. Gerard then launches into a speech about doing things differently. What if he hadn't tried to cure his cancer by forcing the bite? He wonders when it became his nature to believe that most things couldn't be asked for but had to be taken._**

"I call bullshit" Allison declared.

 ** _Scott calls BS on this._**

"And so does Scott. You two are made for one another" Lydia teases and the couple blushes.

 ** _He says the whole time Gerard was talking his heartbeat never went up or down. Gerard claims this is because he was telling the truth. Scott says it might be because he is a really good liar. He then threatens Gerard saying that if the old man lied and it gets people hurt, Scott will return and "take away more than your pain."_**

"G o Scott!" Stiles whooped.

 ** _Cora questions Stiles look. He feigns ignorance as to what look she is referring. When she says it's the look that makes her want to punch him, Stiles says she is definitely Derek's sister._**

"Okay maybe Cora takes more after Derek after all" Laura sighed.

 ** _He then explains that he doesn't believe Peter's account of the Derek and Paige tragic romance. He explains that they are reading Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness in school and that the book's narrator, Charles Marlow, is an "unreliable narrator" telling the tale from his perspective which may or may not be what actually happened. Stiles says they didn't get the whole story from Peter and when Cora asks if he plans to ask Derek about the girl he loved but had to kill, Stiles says "if I have to."_**

"It's good that you didn't believe him, but asking him wouldn't be a good idea" Laura said.

 ** _Young Derek is still covered in Paige's blood and the black goo that seeped out as she rejected the bite. His mother comes to him in the abandoned basement. Talia calls his name and he confesses. She says she knows. He then explains that his eyes are different. She says they are different but "still beautiful just like the rest of you."_**

Talia smiled at the memory and then sighed again, remember how she too had taken In Peter's story and was being a bit distant with Derek because of it.

 ** _Derek returns to the abandoned distillery as an adult. He once again hears the strains of Schubert's Ave Maria as he remembers Paige and stares at the Spiral Ennis cut in the wall so many years ago._**

"Poor Derek" Scott said. He finally understood why Derek was so against him dating Allison. He saw himself is Scott so much that he didn't want Scott to go through the same thing he had all those years ago.


	37. 3-9

**_Deputy Tara Graeme answers a 911 call to Beacon Hills High School at night. She is surprised by Danny and a number of other students leaving orchestra rehearsal and tells to leave the school immediately._**

"This doesn't sound good" Noah muttered.

 ** _Deputy Grahame attempts to radio back to dispatch but all she hears is static which then resolves into the chant we've heard a number of times preceding Darach sacrifices. She sees a body being dragged into the locker room and goes to investigate. She hears the shower is on and when she looks inside, she sees herself dead under the flow of water. The Darach slips a garrote around her neck and chokes her, then leaves her bloody body in the shower in the same position we saw just a moment before._**

"Oh God no" Stiles and Noah said at the same time.

 ** _Scott and Stiles arrive at the school where they find Lydia and Allison waiting. Lydia says she called them after she went into a fugue state and ended up somewhere she never intended to go. Her fugues, so far, have always led to the discovery of a dead body. This time is no exception as the body of Deputy Grahame has been left on top of the Beacon Hills High School sign in the middle of campus. The next day, Stiles keeps an eye on his father as he investigates Deputy Tara's death at the school. The Sheriff tells Stiles to step off, he says he has the FBI and "half the state" coming in to assist in the investigation because "they're not going to get away with killing one of our own". Stiles points out that he too has a connection to the victim saying Tara often helped him with his math homework when he was waiting for his father at the Sheriff's Station._**

The group looked at father and son present with them and could clearly see how much that death had affected them. "Remind me tp thank her when we get back" Stiles mumbled to Scot who nodded.

 ** _Allison is covered up in bed. Her father asks if she is going to the recital at school "to honor the losses". She corrects him that they were not "losses" they were murders. Allison says she's not feeling up for the recital but the minute Chris Argent exits the room, she is up. She was fully dressed under the covers._**

"If you had just told me" Chris sighed. "You would have stopped me" Allison finished for him, making him sigh again.

 ** _She equips herself with her ringed daggers and prepares to leave but a noise at the window stops her. In one fluid moment she reaches out of the window and hauls Isaac into the room and pins him on the floor with a dagger at his throat._**

"Nice moves" Laura complimented. "Thanks" Allison smiled, she herself surprised from what she just saw herself do.

 ** _She assumes Scott sent Issac to check up on her since she didn't come to school. Allison says she can take care of herself. Isaac says he's noticed that fact more than once. In Ms. Blake's class she is lecturing on Idioms, Analogies, Metaphors and Similes as tools a writer uses to tell a story. Lydia is drawing a tree. Ms. Blake comments that she wasn't aware Lydia had so many hidden talents. Lydia retorts "You and every guy I've ever dated" which Ms. Blake says is an example of an idiom._**

"You know, she is my favorite teacher" Laura laughed.

 ** _Ms. Blake seems disconcerted. There could be a number of reasons for this - Lydia's response, the subject matter of her drawing or the fact that she is faced with Scott and Stiles for the first time since the Alpha twins kidnapped her and helped kill Boyd._**

"Well it shouldn't be that awkward. They just saved her life. Nothing more" Isaac said in a matter of fact tone.

 ** _Ms. Blake continues her lecture. She explains that idioms require both the author and the reader to have a common knowledge base of language or culture. She gives "Jump the gun" as an example explaining that both author and reader must know about the use of starting guns in racing to understand the meaning of the idiom. She also mentions "seeing the whole board" as another example. Stiles recognizes the idiom from chess because his father plays the game. Scott hatches a plan for Lydia to distract Aiden so that they can talk to Ethan. Scott has an idea the Darach might have been an emissary to the Alpha Pack. Stiles says Aiden and Ethan have been inseparable since helping to kill Boyd._**

"Siblings, twins the most tend to stay close to one another after such a traumatic experience" Talia said. "True, but they did kill their pack and then their Alpha. Meaning it wasn't traumatizing for them" Peter added. Talia did not say anything, still pissed off about what happened with Derek, who was still not back.

 ** _Aiden warns Ethan that he needs to stop seeing Danny. Ethan doesn't see the harm but his brother points out that they are not actual high school students and are only there to eliminate a threat. Ethan again points out that Danny is harmless._**

"Aww! The big bad wolf is in love" Erica cooed.

 ** _Aiden mocks him for falling for Danny saying they are not there to "hold hands and pass notes in class". Aiden takes on a shark-like grin and asks if Deucalion ordered that Ethan kill Danny, would the smitten twin be able to do it. Ethan turns it around asking if Deucalion ordered Aiden to kill Ethan would the other twin be able to kill his own brother. Aiden again flashes his smile and lays down the law "stop talking to Danny." Aiden threatens to tear off Danny's face and eat it if Ethan doesn't end the relationship._**

"Great I'm banging the psycho twin" Lydia rolled her eyes.

 ** _Lydia gets Aiden down to their regular make out spot in Coach's office. She goes to remove his shirt but then notices that he's giving her a look. She asks about it and he points out that he's surprised they're together again considering that she's not spoken to him since… He trails off but Lydia finishes "since you killed Boyd". Aiden blames it on Kali and says he didn't have a choice. Lydia mocks him saying "I thought you were all Alphas" but Aiden explains that it's not as democratic as it sounds. He says she shouldn't expect him to be filled with remorse because Derek killed Ennis. Lydia wonders if it's now Derek's turn to kill someone. Aiden brings up the time when Derek and Boyd were out to kill Lydia. She is shocked that he knows about that incident but before he can explain how he knows, there is a bang on the door and a claw draws a spiral on the frosted glass window._**

"oooh shit" Stiles hissed.

 ** _Scott and Stiles talk to Ethan who is surprised that they're even trying because he killed Boyd and for all they know may kill another of his friends. Stiles thinks Ethan is looking at him when he says it and takes it as a threat. Stiles threatens him back saying he will "break off an extra-large branch of mountain ash, wrap it in wolfsbane and roll it in mistletoe and shove it up your freaking…"_**

"Dude!" Scott yelled. Stiles shrugged. "I'm liking this guy more by the second" Laura snickered.

 ** _Scott restores order and tells Ethan he knows the twin didn't want to kill Boyd and says he believes Ethan would not do something like that again. Ethan tells the story of the twins. They had been Omegas within a pack. They were badly abused by their Alpha and their pack mates who Ethan claims were all brutal killers._**

"So they were the bitches" Stiles said simply.

 ** _Stiles wants to know why the twins didn't just become "Voltron Wolf" and fight back but Ethan explains that they didn't know how to do that back then. He explains that they owe fealty to Deucalion because he helped them develop their innate ability to merge their forms. They were then able to kill their oppressors one by one, saving their Alpha for last._**

"So their reason to kill off their pack actually makes some sense" Peter mused.

 ** _In the locker room, Aiden comes out of the office expecting to face off with a revenge seeking Derek. Instead, Cora jumps him. She claws his chest brutally._**

"I was so expecting Derek" Erica sighed.

 ** _Ethan explains to Scott that all of the Alpha Pack's original emissaries, with the exception of Deucalion's, are dead. Ethan is suddenly seized by a sharp pain in his chest. He is feeling the damage that Cora is inflicting on Aiden._**

"So twins really do feel each other's pain" Lydia snapped her fingers.

 ** _Aiden's chest is a bloodied mess but he rallies and gets the upper hand, grabbing Cora by the throat and tossing her across the room. Aiden picks up a 45lb weight and smacks her in the face sending her flying again. Aiden is poised to strike again, with the weight held over his head, when Scott and Ethan arrive to stop the fight. Ethan shouts that Aiden can't attack any of Derek's people until Kali's deadline which is the next full moon. Aiden notices Lydia looks afraid and disappointed and his anger fades to something akin to shame. Ethan takes his twin from the room and Stiles realizes that Cora is very badly injured._**

"First off Ethan just showed remorse? Can that be possible? And second, why isn't Cora healing?" Stiles asked getting shrugs for both questions.

 ** _At the Argent's apartment, Isaac is trying to wrap his head around Allison's theory that her father knows way too much about the Darach killings and therefore must be involved somehow._**

"You think I'm the Darach?" Chris asked with a raised eyebrow. Allison smiles sheepishly, "sorry". Chris shook his head, but internally was proud for not getting her judgments clouded.

 ** _She goes back over the blacklight visible markings on the map we saw last episode but Isaac takes a step back saying he remembers his father saying step back and look at the whole picture. They notice a pattern under the map. A fivefold knot is inlaid in the top of the desk. Under blacklight, they see the words "Virgins" "Warriors" "Healers" "Philosophers" and "Guardians. Each word is written in one of the five "knots."_**

"Okay dude, you look like the killer here" Melissa said making Chris roll his eyes.

 ** _Cora has a head wound that isn't healing. As she dabs away the blood, she berates Stiles, Scott and Lydia as a "bunch of stupid teenagers". She says they think they can save people but all they do is show up too late to do anything but find the bodies. Stiles follows her out to give her a ride home._**

"Well she isn't wrong" Scott sighed.

 ** _Ms. Blake comes down the concrete steps at the tunnel leading to the school's athletic fields. She sees Derek at the other end of the tunnel and runs to him. They embrace and kiss. She questions where he's been then says something terribly insensitive about not giving "I needed to be alone" as an excuse. She realizes how bad it sounds and takes it back. Derek says he knew she was safe but she claims she didn't feel that way because the "evil twins" were still in school like the murder she witnessed didn't happen. Derek promises they won't hurt her just as the bell rings. He says she should take the rest of the day off and go with him but she points out that she's organized the memorial concert at the school and has to stay. They kiss and she departs as the wind picks up and stirs the dead leaves through the tunnels._**

"How romantic" Talia chuckled.

 ** _Stiles is driving Cora home when Allison calls. She explains what they've found and take the "Guardians" written on the desk to mean "law enforcement" since the deputy was the first victim of the set. Allison says Stiles has to warn his father and make him believe. Stiles says he'll need Cora's help to convince his father. Scott goes to see Ms. Morrell. She is cryptic as always but denies being the Darach and says she's been holding Deucalion back from hurting Scott's friends. Morrell suggests that Deucalion doesn't care about the Darach's killing spree. She explains that Deucalion wants a True Alpha in his pack and says if he can't possess Scott's potential by getting him to join then he will destroy that potential by turning him into a killer. If Scott kills he could no longer be a True Alpha. Scott vows that neither of those outcomes will ever happen. She then warns that Scott is playing Deucalion's game and that the Alpha leader is thinking ten moves ahead "with checkmate already in sight."_**

"Well that's a fun thought" Scott mumbled.

 ** _In a classroom at BHHS, a teacher is writing out the details surrounding the start of World War I "The Great War" on his blackboard. On June 28, 1914 Franz Ferdinand of Austria was assassinated leading to the "July Ultimatum" from Austria to Serbia. The teacher turns to check his notes and when he turns back, all that he had written on the board is gone replaced by a Celtic fivefold knot. He drops his chalk sick and it rolls out the door of his classroom and into the hallway where it bumps into Lydia Martin's foot. She picks it up and enters the now empty classroom. She walks up to the blackboard and writes the number "2" in one of the knots. She steps back and begins to scream._**

"Lydia you're starting to creep me out now" Stiles shuddered. Lydia just rolled her eyes, but on the inside, she agreed with him.

 ** _Later, Lydia tries to convince a skeptical Ms. Blake to call the police. Blake believes the missing teacher, Mr. Westover, simply didn't show up for class. Lydia points out that the last time a teacher didn't show up for class was Mr. Harris and that no one has seen or heard from him since. She points to the number "2" and says Mr. Westover is gone and will be the second murder. Ms. Blake points out that Lydia wrote the number on the board. Frustrated, Lydia declares she is psychic. When Ms. Blake looks incredulous she shouts "I'm something!"_**

"Careful Lydia, your crazy is showing" Peter smirked.

 ** _Ethan and Scott are watching from the door and wonder aloud what type of pattern would include a deputy and a teacher. Stiles paces his bedroom. Cora is sitting on his bed. His father looks impatient. Stiles explains he's trying to figure out how to start and his father makes it clear that he doesn't have time for any nonsense. Stiles begins by pointing out how much trouble his father had solving the murders, which were pinned on Kate Argent and then the murders of the former swim team at the hands of Matt. Stiles says Sheriff Stilinski has been playing a "losing game." His father grows more impatient and says he doesn't need a "performance review" from his son._**

"Not how you try to bring someone into the world of supernatural" Isaac sighed.

 ** _Stiles quickly dives in with a chess analogy. Taking his chess board from the shelf he says his father is losing because he's never been able to see the whole board. Stiles says he needs to show his father the whole board. Allison gets a text that says "Mr. Westover missing". She tells Isaac that she is now convinced that her father is responsible for the ritual killings pointing out all the evidence that Chris Argent seems to have foreknowledge of the pattern and location of the murders. Using the fact that Mr. Westover was taken from the school they plot the telluric currents on the map to find the likely spot where he will be sacrificed. Stiles has laid out the chessboard and labeled several pieces with Post-it Thin Strips. Derek (black knight), Scott (black pawn) and Peter (black knight) have pink strips. Chris Argent (white knight), Kate (white pawn) and Allison (white knight) have purple strips. Jackson (white rook or castle) has a yellow strip and Deaton (black rook or castle) has a blue strip._**

 ** _Sheriff Stilinski: Scott and Derek are werewolves?_**

 ** _Stiles: Yes._**

 ** _Sheriff: And Kate Argent was a werewolf?_**

 ** _Stiles: Hunter. That's… Purple's Hunter._**

 ** _Cora: Along with Allison and her father._**

 ** _Sheriff: Yeah. And my friend Deaton, the veterinarian, is a Kanima?_**

 ** _Stiles: Well, No. No. No. No. No. He's a Druid. Okay? Well, we think._**

 ** _Sheriff: So who's the Kanima?_**

 ** _Stiles: Jackson._**

 ** _Sheriff: No. Jackson's a werewolf._**

 ** _Stiles: Jackson was the Kanima first then Peter and Derek killed him and he came back to life as a werewolf and now he's in London._**

 ** _Sheriff: Who's the Da-Rack?_**

 ** _Stiles: It's Da-Rock._**

 ** _Cora: We don't know yet._**

 ** _Stiles: We don't know yet._**

 ** _Sheriff: But he was killed by werewolves._**

 ** _Stiles: Slashed up and left for dead._**

 ** _Cora: We think._**

 ** _The sheriff then asks why Jackson was a Kanima first and Stiles explains that sometimes the shape that you take reflects the person you are. His father wonders what shape an increasingly confused and "angrier by the second" father would take. Stiles says it would actually be an expression like the one his father is currently wearing._**

"Well that went well" Peter rolled his eyes.

 ** _The sheriff rises to leave and Stiles turns to Cora prompting her to transform and prove to his father the existence of werewolves. Cora stands briefly then collapses to the floor. Her head wound has reopened and is bleeding again._**

"That isn't normal" Stiles points out. "Thanks captain obvious" Laura rolled her eyes but was worried for her little sister.

 ** _Allison and Isaac arrive at what appears to be an abandoned power plant (the Eagle Rock Substation). It is a large stone edifice with an interior reminiscent of a cathedral. The hunter and the werewolf are dwarfed by square concrete pillars that tower 30-40 feet above the floor. The pillars form a long nave-like area that stretches the length of the building with aisles hidden in shadow behind the pillars to either side. Isaac warns Allison that if her father tries to kill him, he will defend himself. Allison points out that if her father wants to kill Isaac then Isaac will be dead._**

"I agree" Peter nodded, he himself having faced Argent in the past.

 ** _Isaac smells blood but says he is to inexperienced in using his heightened senses to determine from which direction the scent comes. He settles on straight ahead where there seems to be a large set of doors at the end of the nave. Through the door, Allison spies a figure suspended on chain-link and struggling against his restraints. The Darach pops up behind the figure and spies Allison and Isaac._**

"Eugh that thing is ugly" Erica scrunched her nose.

 ** _Allison begins to run forward toward the struggling victim and his captor. Isaac follows but then, with a shout to "get down", Chris Argent steps out from behind a pillar with a silver revolver pistol in each hand. The kids step back as he opens fire. Bullets send up sparks as they harmlessly impact the chain-link fencing in front of the Darach. As Chris gets closer the killer flees. Chris runs out of ammo and somehow manages to reload both guns without slowing down and continues sending a barrage of bullets after the fleeing Darach._**

"That was so cool!" Stiles shouted, making Chris smirk.

 ** _Allison and Isaac rush forward to help the hanging man. He is already dead. Allison recognizes him as the missing teacher, Mr. Westover. Isaac says he was "our History teacher." Allison realizes they were wrong about the latest round of victims and relays the information to Scott who in turn relays it to Stiles. The Darach isn't targeting "Guardians" as in law enforcement but is after "Philosophers" as in teachers. Stiles says it makes sense because Deputy Grahame was a middle school teacher. Stiles worries that there are dozens of teachers all headed home. Scott, still at school, sees that a line of teachers is heading into the auditorium for the recital. Ms. Blake stands outside the auditorium and embraces herself against a sudden gust of chilly wind._**

"Oh no" Laura sighed.

 ** _Allison and her father argue as he collects his spent shells from the scene of the latest sacrifice. Chris says he would have caught the killer had Allison and Isaac not interrupted. Allison accuses her father of lying to her for two months. He fires back that if she wants to tally up the lies he doesn't think she'll come out ahead. Isaac points out that it's not the best time for a family meeting since one more teacher is yet to be targeted. They decide to head to the recital. Stiles and his father have delivered Cora to the hospital. Stiles is still trying to convince the Sheriff that werewolves are real pointing out that he must have seen something when he saved Deaton at the bank vault since Scott was visibly healing after his push against the mountain ash barrier. The Sheriff says he doesn't know what he saw then brushes Stiles off again saying he's seen a lot that he can't explain but just because he can't explain them doesn't make them supernatural or real. He then points out that another body has been found and that's the lead he's following. Stiles, near tears, tells his father another teacher is going to die if the Sheriff doesn't listen to his son. Sheriff Stilinski becomes very angry. He screams at his son that he IS listening and has BEEN listening. He realizes he is causing a scene and regains control. Stiles realizes that his father is listening but doesn't believe. As the Sheriff turns to go Stiles says "Mom would've believed me." This stops the sheriff in his tracks._**

Both parents look at their son who was not meeting their eyes.

 ** _In the school auditorium, Ethan is fixing Danny's necktie and then touches up his hair. Ethan then pops open a case of mints, takes out a single piece and places it on Danny's tongue. Ethan then warns him that "if anything happens – find me." He then turns and notices his brother Aiden was watching the whole exchange. Scott scans the crowd in the auditorium for any trouble. He sees Ms. Morrell is in attendance and then sees Lydia. He's surprised because he thought she was going home. Lydia says she can't leave because, while she doesn't know why she's the one that finds the victims, if she just stops fighting her abilities maybe she can get there early enough for someone like Scott to save them. Scott vows that if she gets him early enough warning he will do something about it. They briefly grasp hands._**

"Do I smell a growing romance?" Erica smirked. "I'd say a friendship rather" Laura shrugged.

 ** _Derek is at Cora's bedside in the hospital. She has a large bandage wrapped around her head. She wakes and asks him what's happening to her. He says he doesn't know but that he's not leaving, "not again" and gently kisses her forehead._**

Talia smiles softly seeing older brother look after younger sister.

 ** _Sheriff Stilinski asks Melissa McCall for some old hospital records. He says they would be "over ten years old." Melissa says he'll need a court order but she's not serious. She says she'll bend the rules for a "handsome face."_**

"Oh God mom!" Scott groans. "What? You think you're the only one who can flirt?" she smirked. "And besides, it was a friendly compliment" she added in the end.

 ** _Chris, Allison and Isaac arrive at the school as the orchestra begins to play. Danny plays the trumpet. Lydia's phone buzzes as a text arrives. The text is from Aiden and says "Need to see you right now." Lydia looks up and sees Aiden is sitting with his brother in the audience in front of her. A second text arrives that says "Life or Death!" Lydia mumbles "it better be" and exits._**

"I wonder what he wants" Lydia mutters.

 ** _At the hospital, Melissa McCall found the file the sheriff wanted. She has details on a patient found slashed up in the woods and near death. Clipped to the chart is a photograph of a dark haired woman with a dimpled chin. She looks nothing like any of the characters seen on the show. Her name is listed as "Jane Doe." The date on the chart is "3/02." That could be March of 2002 or February 3rd with no year listed. There is no way to tell which the intended date was. Melissa explains that hundreds of birds flew right into the walls and windows of the hospital while they were trying to treat the "Jane Doe". Melissa calls it mass suicide but the sheriff sees it as "they were sacrificing themselves". Melissa wonders what could make animals sacrifice themselves. The sheriff says "not what, who?"_**

"Someone is catching on" Melissa said, a bit excited.

 ** _Lydia enters one of the schools darkened and empty classrooms. She begins to hear the loud Darach death chanting and Ms. Blake steps out of the shadows and knocks her across the face._**

"woah woah woah" Laura said, jaws wide open in shock.

 ** _Realizing Lydia is no longer at the concert, Stiles and Scott go outside looking for her. Scott scans the area with his enhanced vision but sees nothing. Inside the concert the orchestra seems to be possessed. The music has become dark and foreboding with a hint of the Darach death chant coming from the members of the chorus. The audience is beginning to sense how weird it's becoming and Ms. Morrell and Allison look worried._**

"SHE is the Darach!?" Stiles asked, his jaws drop too.

 ** _Lydia is crying and seems to be in pain. She touches her forehead and her hand comes away bloodied. Ms. Blake is winding a cord around an object Lydia can't quite make out. The teacher begins to explain what's going on. She says she is only doing what's necessary. She says that the word sacrifice is from the Latin word sacrificium which she says means "an offering to a deity". She says such sacrifices are "a necessary evil."_**

"Okay damn she sounds like a psycho now" Laura muttered.

 ** _Lydia chokes out the word "stop" to which Ms. Blake says she wishes she could but that Lydia doesn't know the Alphas "like I do". Blake then rises and we see that she's been winding the cord around a garrote stick and plans to strangle the girl with it. She explains that Lydia isn't a sacrifice. She's just a girl who knows too much._**

"No no no" Lydia kept muttering to herself.

 ** _Blake places the cord around Lydia's neck but the intended victim manages to get her hand up between the cord and her throat. Lydia lets out a scream. Scott and Stiles hear it. It is so loud to Scott's enhanced ears that he falls to his knees at the shock of it. Inside the auditorium Isaac, Aiden and Ethan hear it and are similarly affected. Still at the hospital, Derek hears it and looks up. Ms. Blake is amazed. She stops trying to choke Lydia and explains that the girl is "The Wailing Woman" and calls her a Banshee. She then compares herself to Lydia saying they both "look like the innocent flower but be the serpent under it."_**

"Lydia is nothing like you! You killer!" Stiles says. Lydia looks at the boy, a soft smile on her face.

 ** _Blake then takes duct tape and binds Lydia's hands to the chair so that she can't block the garrote again. She takes up a position behind the girl, places the cord around her throat and begins to twist it tighter. She then takes out a dagger and places it to Lydia's neck saying "one last philosopher." In the auditorium, the concert has turned into a chaotic clash of discordant tones. The audience is visibly uncomfortable as the orchestra and the conductor look insane - sawing, hammering and frantically blowing their instruments._**

"That sounds so creepy" Allison mutters.

 ** _The pianist is crashing random cords so hard that she breaks one of the strings on the grand piano. The metal wire flies up and off the pin block, whips back and slices across the pianist's throat. She drops dead to the floor._**

"Making the death look like an accident. Clever, very clever" Noah mumbled.

 ** _The audience, already tense from the weird performance, breaks into a full panic and begins to run. Allison plunges into the crowd heading for the stage with her worried father and Isaac in pursuit. On stage, Danny looks terrified. Allison reaches the fallen pianist and finds a bright white pool of liquid mistletoe is leaking from her mouth and mixing with the blood on the stage. Lydia is dying with the garrote twisted tight and a knife to her throat. Suddenly Sheriff Stilinski is there with a gun pointed squarely at Ms. Blake. The teacher simply takes the dagger away from Lydia's throat and throws it at the sheriff, striking him in the chest just below his right shoulder. The knife does not penetrate deeply but remains stuck in._**

"Dad!" Stiles screamed. "I'm right here son. It hasn't happened yet and now it will not happen" Noah said reassuringly, with a smile which calmed his worried son.

 ** _Scott arrives, fangs and fur flying, and lets out a roar. The werewolf and the Sheriff look at each other before Scott goes after Ms. Blake. She swats him away with ease and apparently injures him badly as blood comes pouring from his mouth._**

"Dude just got bitch slapped. Even if it wasn't really a slap" Isaac said.

 ** _Stiles arrives but Blake, showing more ridiculous strength, shoves a desk in front of the door so that he his left out in the hallway. The sheriff has recovered enough to pick up his gun in his left hand. He levels it at Blake who walks confidently toward him. The sheriff explains that there was a girl, years ago, found in the woods with her face and body slashed apart. He knows it was Blake. She retorts that maybe she should have started with philosophers._**

 ** _Blake: Maybe I should have started with philosophers, with knowledge and strategy._**

 ** _Sheriff Stilinski fires his weapon striking her in the leg. The wound heals immediately._**

 ** _Blake: Healers…_**

 ** _Blake grabs the dagger and lifts the sheriff off the ground while at the same time twisting his left wrist so that he releases the gun. She forces him back, slamming him into a stack of chairs at the back of the classroom._**

 ** _Blake: Warriors…_**

 ** _She rips off the sheriff's badge._**

 ** _Blake: Guardians…_**

 ** _She crushes the badge, folding the metal and dropping it to the floor. She then moves in close to Sheriff Stilinski's face and says…_**

 ** _Blake: Virgins._**

 ** _She then leans in and kisses him. During the kiss, the sheriff opens his eyes and sees not Jennifer Blake but the disfigured and slightly slimy face and huge white eye of the Darach._**

"Well hello nightmares" Noah shuddered, horrified at what he just saw.

 ** _There is then the sound of shattering glass, Stiles manages to push the desk away from the door and Scott makes it back to his feet but they are too late. It appears the Darach has escaped through the broken window, taking Sheriff Stilinski with her._**

"Oh no no no" Stiles groans, his head in his hands.


	38. 3-10

**_A storm is raging above Beacon Hills Hospital. The wind rips at trees and the clouds rush past a nearly full moon. In front of the Emergency Room entrance, patients are wheeled out on gurneys trailing intravenous infusion stands. The flashing lights from two ambulances and a Sheriff's Department truck add to the general chaos._**

"The storm looks very bad if we are evacuating the whole building" Melissa said worriedly.

 ** _Inside, Melissa McCall tries to organize the evacuation of patients. She orders the nurses to evacuate each room then place a red X in tape across the door to indicate that the patient is out. An unidentified Doctor explains that the severe weather was unexpected because only "mild thunderstorms" were predicted. Melissa says that the situation is much worse than expected with electricity blackouts in several towns and that a town called "Hill Valley" is under a flood watch. The doctor is concerned because he lives in Hill Valley and Melissa allows him to evacuate after learning that only one of his patients, Cora Hale, has not yet been evacuated._**

"You let the doctor go when Cora was still left? Why!?" Laura asked. "Because I'm pretty sure the wolves would have a much easier time escorting her out without any interruptions" Melissa pointed out.

 ** _Peter Hale is tending to his niece. Cora lies unconscious, covered in sweat in one of the hospital's treatment rooms. Peter is frustrated because she has not yet been evacuated. Melissa hears him from the hallway and enters explaining that the evacuation is ongoing. She then sees his face and is drawn up short in shock. Peter attempts to slip into room's limited shadows but it's too late. Melissa expresses her shock that he is supposed to be dead to which Peter responds "I get that a lot actually."_**

"Only Peter would respond with that" Talia rolled her eyes.

 ** _Before they can say anything more, the machines monitoring Cora's vitals begin to beep. She gasps for breath, sits up and vomits a combination of black goo and mistletoe._**

"Of course it would be mistletoe" Laura growled.

 ** _Jennifer Blake rushes into Derek's Loft. She embraces him and says she wanted to get to him before he heard awful things about her._**

"Awful my ass" Stiles growled. ** __**

 ** _She kisses him and pulls back, realizing that he already knows what happened at the school. Scott and Stiles step forward and demand to know what she's done with Sheriff Stilinski. Tears well in Stiles' eyes and he can hardly form the words._**

"Stiles" Claudia and Noah sighed sadly.

 ** _She denies everything at first and only acquiesces to the truth after Scott douses her with powdered Mistletoe. He says Deaton explained that the plant is a poison and a cure. Scott says this means that Jennifer can use it and it can be used against her. When he tosses the powder into the air, Jennifer reverts to the badly scarred and bald Darach appearance then back to her beautiful disguise._**

"Snake under the beautiful flower" Lydia mumbled.

 ** _Derek grabs her by the throat. She pleads with him that they will need her help to save Cora and urges Derek to call Peter._**

"She better help her or so help me god I will kill her when we get back" Laura snarled. ** __**

 ** _He does so and Peter explains the black goo/mistletoe vomit situation over the phone. Derek, still holding Jennifer by the throat, lifts her off the ground. Scott urges caution. Jennifer pleads with Stiles saying he'll never find his father if she dies. Stiles begs Derek to stop. He drops her to the floor and she suddenly becomes arrogant saying all of them need her._**

"She is playing with them all" Allison scowled. "I hate her as much if not more than I liked her" Scott growled.

 ** _In Derek's car on the way to the hospital, Jennifer explains that she's not helping them not because she has to but because she wants to. She explains that she could still run and they wouldn't have an easy time stopping her. She claims she doesn't want Cora to die and is only doing what she had to do. Derek's response is simply "shut up."_**

"She had to do? She didn't have to poison my baby sister!" Laura growled. "Laura" Talia said and mother and daughter met eyes before Laura backed down. At that moment, Derek walked back in and took hi

 ** _Jennifer continues to attempt an explanation. Saying Derek needs to know "how connected" they really are. Derek responds "stop talking." Stiles and Scott are following behind Derek in Stiles' Jeep. Stiles is suspicious, saying Jennifer is acting as if everything that happened, them proving she was the Darach and convincing Derek, was all part of her plan._**

"Maybe it was" Noah said suspiciously.

 ** _They arrive at the hospital in the pouring rain. Stiles grabs a baseball bat from his Jeep. When questioned about it, he tells Scott "you've got claws, I've got a bat."_**

"Kids got a point. Even if it is a useless one" Peter shrugged

 ** _The lights inside the Emergency Room are flickering as Scott explains to his mother that they've come for Cora. Melissa says that there are two ambulances coming, one in 10 minutes the other in 20 minutes, she says Cora needs to be in one of those ambulances when they load up in the basement parking garage under the hospital. On the hospital's second floor, Derek finds Cora's exam room empty. A trail of black goo droplets leads out into the hallway and through a set of closed double doors. There is a muffled sound of a fight and Peter Hale is thrown through the doors and slides to a stop at Derek's feet. At the other end of the corridor the merged twinsroar. An unconscious Cora lays on the floor._**

"At least you didn't leave her behind" Talia growled. "I would never" Peter said then quieted down from the glare he got.

 ** _Derek and Scott try to go after the "Voltron Wolf." While the twins are distracted, kicking both Scott and Derek's asses, Stiles rallies Peter to help him get to Cora and escape. Scott tries to reason with the giant Alpha, calling on both Ethan and Aiden to stop. The creature speaks and says "all we want is her." Jennifer backs away down the hall and into the elevator._**

"And she runs away. Just great" Laura sighed while Talia filled Derek in on what he missed.

 ** _Downstairs, Melissa is still trying to get the last of the patients and staff evacuated when Deucalion and Kali enter. The elevator doors open and the two Alpha's spot Jennifer. Deucalion whips the tip off his cane and throws it like a spear. It misses Jennifer and embeds in the wall. Jennifer quickly steps back into the elevator and pushes the button to close the door. Kali runs forward and catches the elevator doors before they can close all the way. She begins to pry them open but Jennifer draws back, her eyes turn white as she strikes the elevator doors with both hands. There is a slight glow as some sort of power leaves her hands, transfers through the doors and throws Kali several feet down the hall. The elevator doors close and Jennifer leans back in relief._**

"That was kinda cool" Stiles said grudgingly.

 ** _Derek, Scott, Stiles, Peter and the unconscious Cora are still being pursued by the merged twins. They rush through an operating room. Derek urges them to keep going but Stiles stops and raises his bat. When the twin creature enters he takes his shot bringing the bat down on its head. The bat doesn't just shatter, it turns to sawdust at the force of the impact. The creature is not phased and simply growls at Stiles who has time to make his escape and join the others. With "Voltron Wolf" closing in, Scott leaps into the air and pulls down a florescent light fixture which strikes the creature in the face._**

"ooooh" the teens winced in unison.

 ** _Allison and Isaac are still at school in the aftermath of the concert. The lights flicker on and off as Isaac explains that he can't reach Derek or Scott by phone. Allison explains that Lydia is bruised and is being taken to a "hospital downtown" because of the evacuation at Beacon Memorial. She explains that the storm is expected to get much worse and that most of the old generators won't hold up to the strain. Isaac realizes that Cora is being treated at Beacon Memorial. When Chris Argent says he is taking them both home, Isaac steps away saying he has to make sure Cora is safe that he can't leave her there with "just Peter."_**

"I take offense to that" Peter complained. "Good" Isaac simply said.

 ** _Chris offers to drive him to the hospital just as the power at the school goes out completely. Melissa pushes the button for the elevator on the first floor then notices Deucalion's cane sticking out of the wall nearby. She reaches up and removes it. As she examines it, Deucalion reaches out gently takes it from her saying "thank you Ms. McCall." She recognizes him as "the Bad Guy" and says as much just as the power goes out completely and battery powered lights kick on. Deucalion and Kali's eyes glow red in the shadows cast from the emergency lighting. The twins de-merge. Aiden is pissed. He says his brother "hesitated" but Ethan says he "pulled back" and that there is a difference. Aiden complains that Derek and the others are protecting Jennifer Blake. He explains that she is using all the sacrifices to gain enough power to "get rid of us."_**

"He is right there" Peter mumbled.

 ** _Derek, Scott, Peter and Stiles bring Cora into an operating room. They seem to have lost their pursuer. Stiles realizes they've also lost Jennifer Blake and begins to freak out a bit. Derek tells him to be quiet and he goes off on the Alpha. "Me be quiet? Me? Are you telling me what to do now? When your psychotic mass-murdering girlfriend - the second one you've dated, by the way – has got my dad somewhere, tied up, waiting to be ritually sacrificed?"_**

Derek winced at the words. "Sorry man" Stiles said with a sad look on his face. Derek just waved it off.

 ** _Scott tries to calm Stiles, reminding him that the Alphas are still out there. Stiles points out that the Alpha's want Jennifer and without her both Cora and his dad are dead. Cora is getting worse and while the werewolves cast about for some way to help her, Jennifer Blake returns and explains that they can't help Cora. She promises to save Cora and tell them where Sheriff Stilinski is being held but only when she has escaped the Alphas in the hospital who want her dead._**

"She is clearly going to bail the moment she gets out! And they have nothing to do but follow her words." Laura sighed in frustration. ** __**

 ** _Derek rushes forward ready to kill her claiming she was trying to escape. She explains that she was trying to stay alive and can't be blamed for that. Stiles points out that if she wants to convince them that she is one of the "good guys" then she should heal Cora. Jennifer refuses again saying she won't do it until she is safe._**

"Definitely trying to bail on them" Allison agreed.

 ** _Peter suggests torturing Blake to get her to help Cora. Derek says that method works for him but before they can take step forward, Melissa McCall's voice comes over the Hospital's public address system. She explains that "Mr. Deucalion… excuse me, just Deucalion" wants them to bring "the woman calling herself Jennifer Blake" to the ER reception area within 10 minutes. Jennifer rushes to point out that Deucalion won't hurt Scott's mother. She explains that Deucalion "wants perfection" and wants to add a "True Alpha" to his ranks. Peter gives the definition we already learned from Deaton. "The kind that doesn't have to steal his power from another. One that can rise by the force of his own will. Our little Scott."_**

"That sounds so creepy coming from you" Scott shivered. Peter while outwardly scowling, agreed with him internally.

 ** _This is the first time Stiles is learning this about his friend. Scott says his status doesn't matter. He says they still need to help Jennifer escape. He proposes that they get to the last ambulance in the basement garage and use that to get away. Reminded that the Alpha Twins won't let them just walk away, Scott and Derek plan to distract them but Jennifer says she won't go anywhere without Derek so Peter steps up to help._**

"Peter? Help? Where has the sun risen up from?" Laura asked in mock shock before rolling her eyes.

 ** _They begin to look around the exam room for some sort of weapon to use against the giant Alpha. Stiles comes up with a defibrillator but is told by Derek to put it down since he doesn't know how to use it. Scott finds a 50ML syringe filled with some solution of Epinephrine. Derek dismisses this as a weapon since it would make "Voltron Alpha" stronger but Peter sees this as a possible advantage. Peter steps into the hallway with the Epinephrine syringe sticking out of his chest right over his heart. He is breathing hard and sweat pours down his face. He and Scott are able to distract the Alpha Twins long enough for Derek, Jennifer and Stiles to get Cora down to the basement._**

"Oh thank God" Laura sighed.

 ** _They find the ambulance waiting and hustle Cora inside. Then they find the driver dead._**

"Fuck!" Laura screamed. ** __**

 ** _Kali's voice, in an eerie singsong, echoes through the garage. She calls out for "Julia." Kali appears at the front of the ambulance. Her feet are covered in blood and she is twirling what appear to be the keys to the ambulance. Stiles closes the doors at the back of the ambulance and hides. Seeing Jennifer, Kali says "it is you." Knowing that he can't beat Kali on his own, Derek decides they will run. They make it out of the garage and into the hospital. Derek heads down a corridor but Jennifer stops him and says they should take the elevator._**

"Why would you take an elevator when the power might pop off at any moment" Stiles groaned. ** __**

 ** _Kali comes running down the corridor but arrives just after the elevator doors have closed. The elevator is moving, Derek and Jennifer catch their breath while up on the roof, Melissa McCall has shown Deucalion where the main power switch is located. He flips it to the "off" position killing all but the battery operated emergency lights in the hospital below. The elevator shudders to a halt._**

"Totally called it" Stiles says. "We get it smart ass" Laura snapped, worried for her brother who was stuck with a psychopath in an elevator.

 ** _Deucalion then sends Melissa to find Scott saying she will be his "gesture of goodwill." In the ambulance, Stiles realizes that Cora isn't breathing and performs mouth-to-mouth resuscitation until she begins breathing on her own again. Once she is stable, he says "the next time I put my lips to your mouth, you better be awake."_**

"Normally I would murder you for this but, thank you" Derek said the last part softly.

 ** _Derek looks for a way out of the stalled elevator. He pries open the door and finds the car has stopped between floors and the door is blocked by a concrete wall. He looks to the escape hatch in the elevator's ceiling but Jennifer talks him out of even trying saying it will make too much noise and attract the Alphas, leaving them trapped and under attack in the elevator shaft. Derek texts Scott to get the back-up generator back on and the elevator running again. The shot of adrenalin has worn off and Scott is left supporting Peter as they continue to flee the Alpha Twins. They take refuge in the laundry room and find a means of escape by sliding down the chute used to get dirty laundry from the upper floors to the laundry machines in the basement._**

"At least you two are safe" Talia sighed.

 ** _Derek's text comes through and Peter realizes the others haven't yet escaped the hospital. Scott texts back "Don't move. On our way." In the ambulance with the unconscious Cora, Stiles urges her to hold on a little longer because Scott will find a way to save them all. He reflects on how surprising that fact is considering that he, Stiles, used to be the guy with the plan. Stiles remembers how Cora berated Lydia, Scott and him in the locker room. She called them a bunch of "stupid teenagers." Now he is thinking she may have been right and that all they are good for is showing up to find the bodies. Wiping away tears, Stiles says he doesn't want to find his father's body._**

Stiles sighed. "Son" Noah started, "I know dad" Stiles smiled at his father and hugged him. Noah hugged him back tightly while Claudia watched with a smile. ** __**

 ** _A noise outside the ambulance alerts Stiles that the "Voltron Alpha" is searching the garage. Chris, Allison and Isaac are in the ER reception area. Sensing trouble, Chris chambers a round in his pistol. Isaac picks up noises from below with his enhanced hearing. Putting his ear to the floor he hears two sets of footsteps running. Stiles hears the same thing in the garage and fears what might be coming but it is Scott, still supporting Peter, who appear outside the ambulance. Scott says he's going back for Derek and his mom. Stiles says they have another problem because Kali has the keys to the ambulance and the twins are nearby. Scott tells him to sit tight and returns to the hospital. Scott is attacked by the merged twins. They easily best him, grabbing Scott by the throat and lifting him off the ground. The beast speaks again saying "we're trying not to hurt you." Scott's response is that they should try harder._**

"Tough talk McCall" Peter smirked. 

**_Melissa McCall shouts "Hey! I'd like to try something." She then steps forward with a fully charged defibrillator and places both paddles onto the "Voltron Alpha's" chest. The electricity from the device surges through the beast, the twins demerge and fall to the floor. Melissa reaches out to her son, pulls him to his feet and they run off down the corridor._**

"Go Mrs. McCall!" Lydia cheered.

 ** _Still trapped in the elevator, Jennifer begins to try to convince Derek that she's not evil or a "bitch." She says she hopes he's not thinking the most superficial thought "is that her real face." Derek doesn't care. He is over her and her stories and basically tells her so. In the morgue, Kali says Deucalion made a mistake by letting go of Melissa McCall saying that the head Alpha has a "soft spot" for Scott. Deucalion counters that he has an investment that he is trying to mature. He then turns the talk of "soft spots" back on Kali. It turns out that Jennifer Blake is actually Julia Baccari and had been Kali's Druid Emissary back when she had a whole pack._**

"ooohexplains why she wants to kill the Alpha's" Stiles rolled his eyes.

 ** _Deucalion forced Kali to kill Julia when she killed the rest of the pack. She seems to resent Deucalion for this but he reminds her that she did it to be with Ennis._**

"So basically kills her family to be with a guy?" Laura asked. "Pretty much" Stiles answers.

 ** _While Kali severely injured Julia she did not actually kill her. The Alpha says she wanted her beloved friend to have a peaceful death. Deucalion is unsympathetic saying Kali's moment of mercy has left them all vulnerable to the Darach. Much of the action is shown in a flashback we see the mutilated druid and a regretful Kali. We also see "Deputy Stilinski" find Julia's body._**

"How do you always find the supernatural like that?" Stiles asked his father who shrugged.

 ** _Jennifer/Julia picks up the story as she explains to Derek that she was near death but managed to make it to the Druid Nemeton. Turns out this Nemeton is the same tree where Derek killed Paige just a few months before Kali attacked and killed her pack Paige's virgin blood had charged up the tree with enough power to keep Jennifer/Julia alive until help could arrive._**

Derek clenched his fists.

 ** _"You know mistletoe is important to Druids but do you know why people kiss under the mistletoe? It's a Norse myth. Baldur the son of Odin was the most beloved by the other gods. So much that they wanted to protect him from all the dangers in the world. His mother, Frigg, took an oath from fire and water, metal, stone and every living thing, that they would never hurt Baldur. At a gathering, they tested him. Stones, arrows and flame were all hurled at him. Nothing worked. But there was one god that wasn't so enamored of Baldur, the god of mischief, Loki. Loki discovered that Frigg had forgotten to ask mistletoe, a tiny, seemingly harmless plant and completely overlooked. Loki fashioned a dart out of mistletoe and it killed Baldur. Frigg was heartbroken. She decreed that mistletoe would never again be used as a weapon and that she would place a kiss on anyone who passed under it. So now we hang mistletoe underneath our door during the holidays so that we will never overlook it again." She then explains that the druid emissaries were overlooked and that Deucalion and Alphas erred by doing so. She says the power she is taking from each of the sacrificed groups is a "loan" so that she can teach "these monsters that their monstrous actions would never be overlooked."_**

"By committing monstrous actions yourself?" Allison said with a raised eyebrow.

 ** _Derek points out that this "loan" has cost the lives of innocent people. She turns it around saying that Derek too has killed innocents. She once again asks for his help but he says she can't beat them. She then reveals that her plot involves the total lunar eclipse. During the eclipse, Derek says werewolves lose all their power. Melissa and Scott discuss Deucalion's motive for letting her go. Scott says the Alpha doesn't do anything without a reason. As the mother and son round a corner they run into Chris, Allison and Isaac. They try to come up with a plan to get them all out of the hospital and keep Jennifer Blake alive since she is the key to finding the Sheriff and saving Cora. Chris is unclear which teacher they're talking about and Isaac supplies that she has brown hair and is "kinda hot."_**

"Hey I couldn't be the only one who thought this!" Isaac exclaimed when he got strange looks from everyone. "I agree with him but she is a killer so that's a turn off" Laura says. "You're into girls?" Stiles' eyes bulge out. "I play both ways dear" Laura winked at the boy making him blush. ** __**

 ** _Allison catches sight of her reflection and realizes that she can pass for Ms. Blake. Deucalion is one floor up but thanks to his enhanced hearing he knows the group is "plotting." Scott texts the plan to Derek who then makes some noise by opening the elevator doors as Ms. Blake removes her shoes. Using video chat, Isaac and Allison coordinate the plan of attack. Allison runs down the hall. She is now wearing Ms. Blake's shoes. The twins, one floor up, hear her and quickly pursue. They catch site of her from the back and give chase. Allison left her phone, still sending video to Isaac, in the corridor. As soon as he sees the twins pass the phone, he revs up the Argent's car and takes off toward the underground garage. Allison manages to get outside the ER as Kali leaps from a second floor window and lands just outside the building. Allison turns, bow in hand and opens fire. Kali catches her first arrow but then Allison is joined by her father who fires several rounds from his pistol. The Alphas flee._**

"Yes!" Allison cheered.

 ** _On the roof, Melissa McCall flips the switch to restore the power. As full lighting returns to the elevator, Derek pushes the button for the first floor. In the shiny metal elevator doors we catch sight of Jennifer/Julia in full Darach form._**

"Fuck!" Stiles swore.

 ** _Isaac arrives in the garage, Stiles and Peter rush to load Cora into the SUV. In the back of the ambulance Stiles notices a medical history form hanging on a clipboard. Specifically he notices the line that reads "Signature – Parent or Guardian". He suddenly realizes that the Darach isn't going after law enforcement at all – she's going after parents._**

"Mom" Scott realized in horror.

 ** _Stiles takes off back toward the hospital. Upstairs, Scott discovers an unconscious Derek lying in the Elevator. Jennifer has escaped using the hatch in the car's ceiling that she talked Derek out of using earlier. Isaac puts the SUV in reverse and the backup camera pops on. Peter wants him to leave but Isaac says he won't go without Scott. They hear gunshots and the twins appear on the backup camera screen. Isaac punches the gas, screeching back toward the twins who scatter. He then pops it into drive and the vehicle escapes the garage. Scott races toward the roof. His mother is gone. Deucalion is there. He says he knew all along that parents were the target and if Scott were with him, part of the Alpha Pack, then he would have known that in time to save his mother. Deucalion lays out a bargain, if Scott will help Deucalion catch the Darach then Deucalion will help get Scott's mom and Stiles' dad back._**

"Scott no" Melissa said weakly as she already knew what Scott would do next.

 ** _Stiles arrives just in time to see Scott begin to walk toward the Alpha. Stiles begs his friend not to do it saying they can save their family members together. Scott says he has no choice but to take Deucalion's bargain. He vows to find Stiles' dad and turns back to the Alpha. In the Nemeton, the basement with the huge tree growing up through the foundation that we saw in Visionary, Melissa and the sheriff are tied up._**

"She kept them in there?" Chris asked. "It seems so. I wonder why she hasn't killed them yet" Peter mused out loud.


	39. 3-11

**_Stiles tries desperately to wake Derek who is still lying unconscious on the floor of the elevator where Jennifer Blake left him. Stiles slaps him several times then prepares to punch him in the face when Derek wakes and grabs his fist._**

"Right now he wakes up" Stiles rolls his eyes.

 ** _Stiles urgently catches Derek up on the events saying they must leave the hospital as the police are arriving. Derek is concerned for Cora. Outside, Chris Argent hears a howl and tells Allison that it is a signal The Alpha Pack is retreating. Isaac reminds Peter that the last time he saw the Argents was when Peter killed Kate Argent. Peter escapes the SUV without a word._**

"Typical Peter" Talia snorts.

 ** _Derek arrives and moves Cora from the Argent's car into his own car. Allison wants to know what happened to the rest, Stiles, Scott and Scott's mom. Derek explains that Stiles is still at the hospital and Jennifer took Scott's mom. He doesn't explain that Scott is now with Deucalion. In the Emergency Room waiting area, Stiles sees a Field Agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Stiles seems to recognize the man and seems to dread the prospect of talking to him. The FBI agent seems to know Stiles and wonders if he can answer a few questions without "the usual level of sarcasm." Stiles wonders if the agent can ask the questions without "the usual level of stupid."_**

"I missed the interactions between dad and Stiles" Scott chuckled.

 ** _Stiles denies knowing what's happened to his dad. The agent wants to know if Sheriff Stilinski is "drinking again". Stiles points out that he never had to stop drinking but the agent says he did have to cut down on his alcohol consumption and wonders if he has increased his intake again. Stiles denies knowing what happened in the hospital claiming he'd been stuck in the elevator the whole time. We then see that someone has painted ARGENT across the outside of the elevator doors._**

"So we know who the next target is" Isaac says. Allison looks at her father with worry.

 ** _In Derek's loft, Cora is dying and Derek is indecisive about what to do. Isaac condemns Derek for "rolling around in the sheets with the actual killer" while the rest of them were trying to keep people from getting killed. Isaac brings up Boyd and Erica's deaths and says Cora is now dying while Derek is still doing nothing. Isaac then questions Derek's motives for creating his pack asking if he was bored or lonely to which Derek replies "maybe." Isaac turns to go but Derek stays put saying he promised Cora he wouldn't leave and will help the others when he figures out how to help her. Isaac screams at Derek that there is no time. He points out that the full moon is coming and that Sheriff Stilinski and Melissa McCall will be dead so he, Issac, will try to help them while Derek sits and perfects "the art of doing nothing."_**

"It takes a lot of skills for doing that" Erica says in a mock serious tone.

 ** _Peter comes down the spiral staircase and tells Derek not to take Isaac's outburst personally. He says Isaac is using his anger to excuse shifting allegiance from one Alpha to another, from Derek to Scott. Derek points out that Scott isn't an Alpha. "He's on his way," says Peter. Arriving at their apartment, Chris Argent attempts to allay Allison's fears that he will be taken in the latest round of sacrifices. He points out that he's not been living up to the "Guardian" role. Allison says it's no coincidence that Blake took Scott's mother and Stiles' father and Stiles adds that someone put the Argent name in "large block letters" at the hospital which he says seems like a warning. Allison suspects that Ms. Morrell is behind the warning saying the guidance counselor knows a lot more about what's happening and might be trying to help. Stiles says they need to hurry since the lunar eclipse is "two freaking nights away" and that his father could already be dead. Chris disagrees. He says it seems Jennifer is moving pieces into place. Allison points out that Chris is one of those pieces. He says they won't wait around to see her next move. He takes out the map of the telluric currents. But Stiles is dejected saying that going after her will likely mean Chris gets taken. Chris says he's different because he's carrying a .45 caliber pistol. He says Jennifer has shown that she can heal from a shot to the leg and slashes to her face but wonders how she would do with "half her skull blown off."_**

"Doubt she can heal from that" Boyd grinned.

 ** _Chris suggests the placement of the sacrifices has to do with the strength of the telluric currents in those spots. He points out the school, the animal clinic and the bank on the map. Supposing that Jennifer might return to a spot if she failed to complete a sacrifice there the first time, they settle on the bank as a logical starting point. Allison suggests they enlist Lydia to help. Chris is surprised. He doesn't understand exactly what Lydia could do for them. Stiles explains about her ability to find the bodies without trying and when asked if Lydia is psychic, Stiles says "she's something."_**

"Something doesn't even cover half of what I am" Lydia sighs.

 ** _Cora's breathing has become labored and wheezy. Derek grasps her arm to take some of the pain away and is cautioned by Peter to be careful. Derek says he knows that going "too far" could kill him._**

"As if that would ever stop him" Laura muttered looking at her brother.

 ** _At the Argents, the arms cache is opened and out come the pistols, a crossbow, a rifle, machine guns and Allison's ring daggers._**

"Careful how you treat Allison Scott. I can see a few ways you will be punished" Stiles grinned at his friend who gulped.

 ** _Stiles comments that he thought the Argents were retired. Chris says "retired yes, defenseless, no." Chris tells Stiles to keep his phone on so that if Scott calls they can tell him right away. Stiles says he thinks that is unlikely and Chris says Scott is only doing what he thinks is right. Isaac arrives at the Argents apartment and offers to help. Peter explains to Derek that real wolves will go to extremes to care for an injured member of the pack. He says they will bring it food, chew it up and then regurgitate it into the mouth of the injured wolf. They also give physical and emotional comfort by intensely grooming the injured and in that way are instrumental in healing the wounded. Derek says he wants less analysis of wolf behavior and more direct information about how he can save Cora. Peter says he's heard that Derek can use the extra spark of power that makes him an Alpha, that turns his eyes red and gives him the extra strength and other Alpha abilities._**

"You suggest THAT!?" Talia glared at her brother. "I suggest the only way I know he can help his little sister" Peter growled. Talia growled back but said nothing.

 ** _Peter says when a werewolf takes away pain, the wounded is actually drawing on the power that gives werewolves their abilities. Because he is an Alpha, Derek has extra spark and can use that extra power to heal Cora. The price is high though since it would mean Derek gives up being an Alpha. Peter also says it doesn't work every time. The process might kill Derek. Derek says he wants to do it anyway. Peter seems suddenly very pleased with himself._**

Talia narrowed her eyes.

 ** _Lydia sits at her bedroom vanity with her mother who is offering to help her cover the ligature marks left on Lydia's neck from where Jennifer tried to strangle her. Mrs. Martin says she's developed some "patented cover up methods" from having gotten a number of hickeys in high school._**

"Oh God mom" Lydia groaned.

 ** _Lydia says she doesn't want to cover it up. She says she doesn't need to hide the fact that she survived. At the vault, Chris pulls a fast one. He shocks Isaac with his tazer stick and then handcuffs Allison to the bars that protect the safety deposit boxes._**

"DAD!?" Allison screamed.

 ** _Chris tells a shocked Allison that he knew Jennifer didn't just operate on the telluric currents that she was "in sync with them". He then looks as though he hears something and drops his .45 to floor of the vault. Jennifer enters and, seeing that Chris is effectively giving himself up, she says "now THIS is a sacrifice."_**

Allison slumped into Scott's arms, her eyes starting to wet from tears.

 ** _Lydia is incredulous that Scott would willingly join the Alpha Pack but Stiles says the look on Scott's face at the time suggests his choice was real. Lydia offers her services as a "human Geiger counter for death" but says she doesn't know how to turn her power on or off. She then realizes that Jennifer was surprised that Lydia was a Banshee and the teacher had wanted her dead before she knew about her abilities. They come to the conclusion that Lydia was targeted because of something else she knew or something that Jennifer thought she knew. Isaac breaks Allison's handcuff and she clings to him for support. She is distraught over the loss of her father and Isaac holds her in his arms._**

"Now Scott, he is just helping her. No need to get jealous" Stiles smirked. "I am not jealous!" Scott huffed.

 ** _Peter says Derek may not see the downside to giving up his Alpha status since he hasn't "exactly been 'Alpha of the Year'". Derek says he doesn't care about power but Peter points out the full moon is coming and Kali's ultimatum still stands. Peter says Derek can't face her as a beta and survive. Derek says he doesn't care. Peter also says it might be a trick. He wonders if Jennifer planned for him to use up his Alpha status saving Cora so that Derek would need Jennifer to face Kali._**

"That is very possible" Laura mumbles.

 ** _At school, Lydia is frustrated that Aiden isn't texting her back. Isaac texts Stiles about Allison's dad. The news sends Stiles into a panic attack. He is having trouble breathing, his hands are shaking and the world seems to spin out of control around him._**

"I'm gonna be fine guys" Stiles tells his parents who look at him in worry with a smile. "You talk like you have been through one before" Claudia says quietly. Stiles shrugs making his parents more worried.

 ** _Chris Argent awakes with a gasp. He's all tied up in the Nemeton/root cellar. Sheriff Stilinski sees Chris' look of recognition and suggests that he's been in the cellar before. Chris begins to check for the weapons he has secreted about his person. Stilinski says they watched Jennifer remove his ankle knife. Melissa McCall points out that Jennifer also got the one that was in his sleeve and the switchblade in his other sleeve. Chris continues to struggle to reach something in his jacket. Jennifer Blake enters and points out that she also removed the tazer in his jacket pocket._**

"Dude how many weapons do you carry?" Stiles asked. "Constant vigilance" Chris smirked. "He totally quoted Mad Eye there" Erica muttered.

 ** _She begins to dab at Chris' head wound while discussing how truth becomes altered by legend. Pointing out that Argent is the French word for "silver", she says the legend that werewolves can be killed by silver is wrong. She says the truth is "it's not actually the metal silver that kills werewolves but the family." She then talks about the Hunters Code which is "We hunt those who hunt us." Jennifer says she'd like to borrow the code for a little while "since I've been hunted myself." Chris says she shouldn't pretend that they are the same because he doesn't kill innocent people. She then waxes about how it's a sacrifice and how she wishes there was another way. She says by giving up his life, Chris and the others are making the town and the world safer for their children. She then looks at Melissa and adds the caveat "well most of them."_**

"She better stay far away from my boy" Melissa growled.

 ** _Lydia manages to get Stiles into the locker room. His breath is coming in short gasps now and he staggers into one of the metal mesh lockers and collapses to the floor._**

Claudia looked on with worry at her son.

 ** _Lydia urges him to think about something else. She says "happy things, good things, friends, family." Realizing what she's just said, Lydia takes a different tact telling Stiles to slow his breathing. He can't. She takes his face in her hands and tells him to look at her. She then presses her lips to his in a long, lingering kiss. Stiles' eyes grow wide as he realizes what's happening._**

Both Stiles and Lydia's eyes widened at what they saw while rest of the room cheered. "Maybe you should have had a panic attack from the beginning and not go for that year plan thingy" Scott teased his friend who blabbered incoherent words, blushing as red as a tomato. Lydia peeked at him, her cheeks tinged pink. She didn't know why but that kiss looked so much more different than all the kisses she had seen herself give. Looked right if she thought about it. "I ship it" Erica declared suddenly from the back.

 ** _When they break, Stiles is breathing normally again and wonders aloud how Lydia knew to do that. She explains that she read that holding your breath could stop a panic attack and while she was kissing him Stiles was holding his breath. Stiles says that was really smart but Lydia says if she were really smart she would tell him to sign up for a few sessions with the guidance counselor. This leads them to think Morrell might know what it was about Lydia that Jennifer thought was dangerous. They rush into the Guidance Office to find Danielle waiting for Ms. Morrell. She says Stiles and Lydia will have to wait because she's got "some serious issues to work on." Stiles realizes that Danielle is Heather's friend from the party. Danielle says she's been waiting for 20 minutes for the counselor and points out that it's weird because Morrell is never late. Lydia agrees, saying she was seeing the councilor at the beginning of the semester. Stiles concludes she is not late, she is missing. Stiles says he wants to know what Morrell knows and starts to search through her desk. There are two framed photos, both of young children, on the desk. Stiles comes up with Lydia's file and finds a number of drawings of the same tree. It is the same exact tree over and over again on several pages. Danielle decides that Lydia has bigger issues than she does and exits._**

"I hope we see more of that girl" Laura laughed.

 ** _Stiles realizes that Lydia hasn't been drawing a tree. He turns the picture upside down and finds the drawing is actually the root system that is all that's left of the Nemeton in the root cellar. Stiles and Lydia rush off to find the Nemeton but Stiles is called up short by the same FBI agent we saw earlier. Stiles sends Lydia to Derek since both he and Peter have been to the root cellar before. The agent informs Stiles that his dad's car has been in the school parking lot overnight and that the sheriff is officially missing. He then takes the boy to an empty classroom and questions him saying he thinks Stiles knows something that could help them find his father. Stiles replies with some humorous verbal gymnastics. The agent then starts asking about Scott, Isaac, Allison, Adien and Ethan because he's been told Stiles' "whole little clique didn't show up at school today." Stiles says he doesn't have a clique. The agent grows frustrated pointing out the disturbing amount of violent activity in Beacon Hills of late and the number of murders tied to the school. Stiles says nothing. The agent then says Stiles shouldn't go home alone and asks if there is somewhere he can stay. Dr. Deaton speaks up from the doorway and says Stiles can stay with him._**

"Witch doctor to the rescue" Boyd smirked.

 ** _Lydia arrives at Derek's loft and there is an awkward moment when she sees Peter for the first time since she brought him back from the dead. Ms. Morrell is running in the woods at night. She stops to look behind for her pursuers and we hear howling. The twins and Kali come flipping through the woods. Scott and Deucalion stand in a clearing. Deucalion's special vision picks up a brilliant glow but as the image resolves we see it is only a firefly. Scott points this out and Deucalion says the insect is "unusual for this region." Scott realizes that the fireflies, the deer that ran into Lydia's car and the cat and bird suicides happened just before Jennifer started her killing spree. Deucalion speculates that since animals can sense natural disasters, like earthquakes, they may also be able to sense supernatural disasters. Scott asks Deucalion if Jennifer scares him. He says "she concerns me" because she is willing to kill so many innocent people for her cause. Scott asks if Deucalion is willing to kill innocents as well. The Alpha says he'll "kill any living thing that gets in my way."_**

"Of course he would" Laura and Derek growled.

 ** _Lydia is incredulous that Peter and Derek don't remember the Nemeton even though they've both been there. Peter explains that Talia, whom he describes as his older sister, took the memories from both he and Derek because she didn't want them going back._**

"You just had to" Stiles groaned. "Hey! As if I knew they would need that memory sometime in the future" Talia rolled her eyes.

 ** _Morrell is still fleeing through the woods. She comes to a moonlit clearing and throws a handful of Mountain Ashpowder into the air. It comes down forming a perfect circle around her. The Alpha Twins crash into the invisible barrier created by the circle and are thrown several feet back. Deucalion approaches and inquires how "Marin" knew that they would come for her. She says she figured they would come to kill her because she and Jennifer are the same and Deucalion has always been suspicious of Druids and what they can do. Kali says they have good reason to be suspicious saying they know that Morrell sent the girl to save Isaac. Morrell says the girl's name was "Braeden" and that she sent her to do what Morrell's always done - maintain balance. Kali wants to know what Morrell knows about Jennifer. The druid says she knows nothing more than The Alpha Pack already knows. She then turns her attention to Scott telling him to go back to his friends. Deucalion says Scott can decide for himself but Morrell says he doesn't have all the information to make that decision. She says Deucalion neglected to tell Scott about how many bodies have piled up in Deucalion's "narcissistically psychotic efforts to form your 'perfect pack'." Morrell then tells Kali that it was Deucalion that killed Ennis explaining that Deaton saved the Alpha before Deucalion arrived. Morrell says getting Kali to go after Derek is simply a tactic to get Derek to join the Alpha Pack which will "pave the way for Scott." Deucalion says she's lying because she is begging for her life. He then takes his cane, pops off the tip revealing the blade and throws it underhanded at Morrell._**

"Yeah that tactic would be so helpful with his tale" Melissa rolled her eyes.

 ** _It pierces her chest and she stumbles back, breaking the line of mountain ash. Scott rushes to her side and warns off the others. He then pulls the spear from her chest. Morrell tells Scott about the Nemeton saying "you find that you'll find Jennifer." Outside the Nemeton we see the stump of a large tree sitting in sandy, barren soil. There is also a set of wood slat double doors set into a slightly swollen mound of earth. It is the entrance to the root cellar. Inside the cellar, Chris is struggling against his ropes. Melissa teases him that they've already tried to wriggle free for hours with no success. Stilinski casually mentions that he knows that Argent is a werewolf hunter. Melissa just smiles and lets Chris know that she filled the Sheriff in on the supernatural. When Stilinski says he was feeling a little left out, Chris says "you knew". He then relates the story of the first time they actually met, before Stilinski was sheriff he had questioned Argent about a body. Chris says Stilinski knew something was up but wasn't ready to believe it._**

"Maybe" Noah mumbles at the looks from his son and wife.

 ** _The sheriff then relates the story of the night his wife died. It happened eight years ago. He had been working a car crash were a teenage girl was trapped. He had held her hand knowing there was nothing else he could do for her and that she would surely die. The young woman gripped his hand so tightly he thought the bones would break and said "if you want to be with her, go now" and the sheriff says he knew she was talking about his wife. Even though the sheriff had this revelation, the rational part of his brain wouldn't allow him to believe it and he remained at the crash scene. When he made it to the hospital much later he saw Stiles sitting in the waiting area with his head in his hands. Stiles had been with Claudia at the end but the sheriff was not. He had missed saying goodbye to his wife because he didn't believe._**

"It's not your fault" Claudia smiled sadly at her husband who was looking down. "If only I had believed, I would have been able to say good bye. Stiles wouldn't have been alone, he wouldn't have had seen what he saw alone" Noah muttered. Claudia turned her husband's face around at her and kissed him deeply. "It is not your fault" she said with a soft smile once the broke the kiss. Noah nodded softly, a small smile on his face.

 ** _Stiles, Lydia, Allison and Isaac have joined Deaton at the Animal Clinic as they try to work out how to find the Nemeton. Stiles believes it must be on a telluric current or at the convergence of the currents. Allison says Gerard claims he can't remember the location although he and Chris had been there once before. Deaton says there might be a way to do it but that it is dangerous and that they'll need Scott. Stiles and Deaton meet Scott in the woods. He says none of the Alphas know where the Nemeton is located. Stiles questions if Scott plans to tell the Alphas if they figure it out. Scott says he can't stop Jennifer without them. Deaton explains that Scott, Stiles and Allison will serve as surrogate sacrifices for their parents._**

"NO!" the parents screamed in unison.

 ** _The plan means the three friends will be dead for a few seconds before Deaton brings them back. Their deaths will supercharge the Nemeton and that will attract supernatural creatures to Beacon Hills. When Stiles points out that it doesn't sound any worse than what they've already endured, Deaton says "you'd be surprised at what you've yet to see." Deaton also says dying will take a personal toll on the trio. They will be left with a permanent "darkness around their hearts" which Scott likens to a tattoo._**

"Worse" Talia muttered.

 ** _In the Nemeton, Chris' wriggling has paid off and he's managed to retrieve a mini version of the hunter's "ultrasonic emitters". He tells Melissa and the sheriff that they usually use them to push werewolves away but he hopes this time it will draw them to the cellar. In the loft, Peter and Derek debate saving Cora with Kali's deadline looming and the lunar eclipse that will leave them powerless a couple of nights away. At the animal clinic, three large tubs filled with ice water and mistletoe are waiting. Deaton asks if Scott Stiles and Allison have brought something personal that belongs to their parents. Stiles has his father's badge. While Jennifer crushed it the night before, Stiles has hammered it out till it is once again recognizable._**

Noah smiled a little at that.

 ** _Allison has a silver bullet made by her father. She says it is a tradition for the hunters when they finish training to forge a silver bullet as a testament to the code._**

Chris chuckled.

 ** _Scott has a Timex watch. He says it was given to his mother by his father and that Melissa jokes it was the only thing about the marriage that worked._**

"Damn right it did" Melissa joked, wiping a tear.

 ** _Deaton describes the process. Each of them will get in and will be held underwater until they are essentially dead. He says the person holding them under must also be able to pull them back, meaning an emotional attachment of some sort. Lydia steps toward Allison since they are friends but Deaton says Lydia's attachment is with Stiles._**

"Even witch doctor ships them" Laura laughed.

 ** _Allison looks suddenly at Isaac and in an unspoken exchange they realize that Isaac will act as her "emotional tether" to the world of the living. Scott gives his blessing to the union but looks less than pleased._**

The Scott in the room look more unpleased than the one on screen. Allison looked back at Isaac. She didn't know what events actually led to her having feelings for him, but she knew that she felt nothing of the sorts at the moment. She knew she only felt for Scott and that had grown stronger as she watched the events. She hugged Scott around his middle and nuzzled his side. Scott looked down, snapped out of his sulking and put an arm around Allison with a smile.

 ** _Scott's tether is Deaton since the vet has served as a father figure on more than one occasion and Scott was responsible for saving his life. They each slip in the tubs. Through shivers and chattering teeth, Stiles informs them that Scott's father is in town._**

"What a time to reveal this" Scott snorted.

 ** _The FBI agent is seen sitting in Scott's room. He retrieves a paperback copy of "A Tale of Two Cities" from the floor and seems to be crying as he surveys the room._**

"Dad" Scott uttered sadly, a small smile on his face. "If only he was still here to watch it with us" Scott thought with a sigh.

 ** _In the loft, Derek takes Cora's hand in his and grips her arm in his other hand. He begins to siphon off the pain and, as he does, his arm muscles and the veins therein begin to pulse and bulge. He wolf's out sending a silent roar skyward as his eyes transform from Alpha red back to Beta blue. Throughout this exchange Peter watches with unconcealed excitement._**

"I really want to rip you apart. I really really do" Talia growled.

 ** _Scott, Stiles and Allison are waiting in their individual tubs. Each of their tethers reach out and push them under the water. After a few seconds, in slow motion, Scott's eyes fly open and glow yellow as darkness flows through the water until it is absolute._**

"Well that's one way of showing a death scene" Stiles muttered humorously.


	40. 3-12

**_Stiles, Scott and Allison awake in their water-filled metal tubs. They are in a large white room with support posts spaced evenly down its length. The only other features are florescent light fixtures set into the ceiling above and seemingly random areas of grey and white tiling on the floor below._**

"Is this what the afterlife looks like? It's so… dull" Laura said. "Not the afterlife. They aren't technically dead. They are both living and dead at this moment, meaning they are in limbo. The place between life and death" Talia explained.

 ** _They exit the tubs and notice, in what appears to be the center of the room, a large tree stump protrudes through the floor. It is the Nemeton._**

"That's the Nemeton? It looks so unimpressive" Stile frowned. "It used to be a huge tree once, very large which could cast a shadow over most of the preserved lands. But after it lost its magic, this is what was left of it" Talia said quietly.

 ** _It is surrounded by cracked floor tiles as if it has forced its way up into the room. The three friends approach and Scott takes notice of the rings that mark the stump. He slips up the sleeve of his t-shirt to reveal his tattoo which seems to mimic the tree's growth rings. Scott flashes back to the day Derek helped restore the tattoo using fire. He remembers telling Derek that he didn't know what it meant that the image was just "something I traced with my fingers."_**

"Well that's interesting" Talia mused.

 ** _Scott reaches down to touch the stump and finds himself in the woods on the night he first got bit by The Alpha Werewolf. While this is all part of post-mortem hallucination, it is clear that this is more than a flashback as Scott watches himself discover Laura Hale's body and then sees the attack that made him a werewolf. As he begins to back away from the scene, he bumps into the Nemeton which is apparently somewhere in Beacon Hills Preserve. Stiles also finds himself back on the night Scott got bit. He arrives a bit earlier and sees himself leading Scott through the woods in a search for a dead body. He watches as his father catches the other Stiles and escorts him out of the woods. Stiles' vision quest ends as he too bumps into the Nemeton stump. Allison finds herself in the Argent's SUV with her mother. Victoria Argent is talking about the unique requirements of her husband's job, "a highly respected private security consultant and a federally licensed firearms dealer." Allison says it's still odd when he runs out in the middle of the night with "duffle bags filled with automatic weapons."_**

"It's a lot less odd now" Allison giggled.

 ** _At that moment, Allison sees someone in the road ahead. Mrs. Argent swerves and barely misses hitting Scott. This is also the night Scott got bit and he's run out into the road after the attack. Allison insists that her mother turn around but when they return to the scene, Scott is gone. Noticing tracks leading into the woods, Allison follows and finds Scott's inhaler lying on the ground. Her mother arrives and tries to drag her back to their car. They hear a wolf howl. Mrs. Argent takes the inhaler from Allison and throws it back into the woods where it lands at the feet of Allison Argent. Looking to her side, this Allison sees the Nemeton._**

"So all three of us were there that night. Does this mean that the Darach targeted us specifically because we were there and the Nemeton's power had played its game?" Stiles asked. Talia shrugged, "You're over thinking things. It's just a coincidence" she said with a smile. Stiles nodded agreeing that it could have been just a coincidence.

 ** _Scott, Stiles and Allison awake back in the Vet's Clinic in their tubs of ice water. They excitedly relate their visions and the connections they all shared with the location of the Nemeton. They are informed by Dr. Deaton that they've been in the water for 16 hours and now have just 4 hours before moonrise._**

"16!?" the three and their parents exclaim.

 ** _On the floor of his loft, Cora holds a bottle of water to Derek's mouth and helps him drink. As he comes around he realizes that she is healed. She says her return to health is all because of Derek._**

"You did it" Laura laughed and hugged her brother who was smiling a genuine smile.

 ** _Peter chimes in that he hopes saving Cora won't be for nothing. He is morose reminding Derek that "you drained your battery all the way to the red and there is a fully charged Alpha on her way to rip you limb from limb."_**

"All parties need a pooper" Laura scowled. "Just keeping them on their toes" Peter said.

 ** _Stiles tries to talk Scott out of returning to the Alpha Pack saying that Scott's deal with Deucalion sounds a lot like a deal with the devil. Scott is adamant though, he doesn't believe they can defeat Jennifer without the Alpha Pack leader's help. Allison tries to get Deaton to talk Scott out of his plan but Deaton balks. He says sometimes circumstances require you ally yourself with people you can't trust but can use to your advantage. In this case Deaton believes Deucalion could be the "bait" for Jennifer._**

"Only he would even think of using Deucalion as bait" Talia chuckled.

 ** _Ethan arrives at the Animal Clinic. He is looking for Lydia in hopes that she can talk his brother out of helping Kali to kill Derek. At the Nemeton, Chris Argent is still fiddling with his "ultrasonic emitter" in hopes of attracting werewolf attention. He tells the Sheriff and Melissa McCall the power source won't last much longer. Melissa seems on the edge of panic as she explains that Jennifer will come down and slash their throats. The Sheriff is blunt and says that Jennifer will actually strangle them with a garrote and then slash their throats. Before they can dwell on this fact, the entire root cellar begins to shake. Dust streams down on the captives as the wind howls outside._**

"The storm is close" Erica mumbled.

 ** _Lydia and Ethan got to Derek. Ethan warns him that Kali is aware of the lunar eclipse and will not wait for it to make them all powerless and "even the playing field." Peter advises that they run as opposed to staying and getting "slaughtered by an Alpha with a psychotic foot fetish."_**

"Sometimes Peter, you make good jokes" Stiles snorted. "Sometimes? Man I do it all the time" Peter smirked.

 ** _Cora also says that Derek shouldn't lose his life for something meaningless. Derek asks them how they know he's going to lose. Peter says he doesn't know but he believes Lydia does know. Lydia says she feels like she's standing in a graveyard._**

"That is not good pep talk red!" Laura exclaimed. Lydia was too shocked at the nickname to reply.

 ** _Scott sends Stiles to his house to get something for him to smell in order to track the Sheriff's scent. There is a discussion on whether that will be his boxer shorts or his socks. Scott, Isaac and Allison go to the Argents apartment on a similar mission but are waylaid by Scott's dad and two Sheriff's Deputies._**

 ** _Scott has an awkward moment with his father. Agent McCall admits that he doesn't have a clue what's going on and Scott throws in a one-liner about how he learned his father didn't have a clue a long time ago. McCall says he's hoping to avoid the embarrassment of dragging his "own son into an interrogation room." The alarm sounds at Derek's Loft and Kali kicks it right off the wall._**

"That will take some cash to mend" Peter sighed. "Dude!" Stiles exclaimed, "You guys are loaded! One alarm can't drain you dry" he said. Peter just shrugged. "Cheapskate" Laura coughed.

 ** _She is frustrated that only Lydia and Ethan remain in the loft. She demands to know where Derek has gone and Lydia says "shopping." Kali pulls out the "who do you think you're talking to" and Lydia counters with "someone in desperate need of a pedicure."_**

"You tell her Lydia!" Stiles and Allison cheered.

 ** _As Kali closes in on Lydia, Aiden begins to growl at Kali and steps forward menacingly. Downstairs, Derek and Cora are climbing into his car. Peter advises them not to call until they are at least 100 miles away._**

"Peter isn't going with them?" Talia asked in surprise.

 ** _While Agent McCall explains how disturbing it is that the latest victims are all related to Scott and his friends, Isaac decides his breath could use a boost and pops out a container of mints. Isaac then points out that he doesn't have parents for someone to kidnap because they're dead. Scott notices three flash bang arrows on the desk in front of him. Kali is questioning if Aiden took his assignment to get close to Lydia too seriously. He claims Lydia isn't the problem. Kali says perhaps the problem is Aiden's loyalties and with whom they lie. Lydia worries aloud that the situation is escalating to violence. Jennifer Blake crashes through the ceiling skylight._**

"Girl looked like Batman making an entrance" Stiles mumbled.

 ** _Jennifer lands on her feet in a pile of broken glass. Kali goes on the attack but Jennifer easily repels her with a combination of moves and her magical force. The twins then take up the fight, stripping off their shirts and beginning to merge. Jennifer grabs their heads, one in each hand, and rips them apart. She throws them to opposite sides of the room._**

"That sounded painful" Lydia winced.

 ** _Jennifer then faces off with Kali. She tells the Alpha to take a good look at her and points out how hard it is to maintain her normal looks. Kali says she doesn't care. Jennifer continues that maintaining her appearance takes power. She then demonstrates by causing the broken shards of the glass skylight to lift off the ground and float around her. The use of her power seems to cause the wind to whip up inside the loft. As storm clouds rage just above the broken skylight, the shards of glass hover in the air. Kali is whipped by the wind and seems to have trouble catching her breath but manages to choke out "I should have ripped your head off." Jennifer flicks her hands forward and all the glass shards fly forward, embedding themselves in Kali's body. She falls down dead._**

"Pin cushion Alpha" Stiles winced.

 ** _The twins recover enough to stagger forward and merge. They come at Jennifer in their giant merged form but she simply grabs it by the neck and twists, breaking the neck and leaving the creature dead on the floor. She then quotes Coach Finstock "The bigger they are."_**

"And now the twins are dead too" Scott sighs.

 ** _Stiles is driving as the storm worsens around him, racing toward his rendezvous with Scott and the others at the Beacon Hills Preserve. Agent McCall threatens to detain Scott, Allison and Isaac which Allison says he can't do without a warrant. McCall says the pile of guns found in the Argent's apartment is enough probable cause to hold them. Echoing her mother, Allison points out that Chris is "a highly respected private security consultant and a federally licensed firearms dealer." She then points out that his job justifies him having some weapons including a_**

 ** _175lb draw tactical crossbow_**

 ** _carbon steel Marine combat knife_**

 ** _50ae Desert Eagle_**

 ** _smoke grenade with pull ring igniter_**

 ** _As she picks up and describes the last item, she pulls the ring and drops the smoke grenade at Agent McCall's feet. She, Scott and Isaac flee the room as the smoke begins to rise around the agent and the deputies._**

"That was bad ass" Scott grinned at his grinning girlfriend.

 ** _Stiles races through the rising wind. Visibility is low as the storm rages. A tree branch flies into the windshield causing Stiles to duck and turn to see what hit him. When he turns back, there is a tree directly in his path with no time to stop. He crashes head on and is left bleeding and unconscious._**

"Oh God!" The Stilinski couple gasp in horror.

 ** _Lydia cowers away from Jennifer Blake asking what the Darach wants from her. Jennifer replies that she wants Lydia to do what she does best, scream. She then shows the girl her true face and Lydia screams long and loud._**

"To be fair, I would have screamed too" Erica muttered.

 ** _On a suburban street, both Derek and Cora hear Lydia and pull over. Derek says they have to go back. Allison, Scott and Isaac arrive at the Beacon Hills Preserve. They're worried that none of them have heard from Stiles. Isaac says they can't wait and they head into the woods. Deucalion joins Allison, Isaac and Scott on the rise overlooking Beacon Hills. Scott apparently expected to see the other Alphas as well. Deucalion says they are occupying themselves with other pursuits. Scott questions the fact that it will be just the two of them, Scott and Deucalion, against Jennifer. Deucalion says they'll make a great team._**

"You just want him as a werewolf shield " Stiles huffed.

 ** _Scott gives orders to Isaac. He is to get Stiles and then get to the root cellar while Scott and Deucalion keep Jennifer busy long enough for the parents to escape. When Isaac questions how Scott will manage to do that, he says he has a plan. Both Kail and the merged twin monster seem to be dead on Derek's floor. Cora comforts Lydia. Jennifer tells Derek that she did all this for him and everyone else whose ever fallen victim to the Alpha Pack. He tells her to stop talking "like a politician" and to stop "trying to convince" him of her "cause." Jennifer changes tactics saying that by helping her, by becoming her guardian, Derek can save the kidnapped parents. Derek says he can't. He points out that he is no longer an Alpha and she says that doesn't matter as she just needs to get Deucalion in the right place at the right time._**

"She plans to get Derek to slice Deucalion's throat" Talia narrowed her eyes.

 ** _Derek looks around the room and says she doesn't need him since Jennifer just killed three of the Alpha Pack on her own. She says they've yet to see Deucalion at his strongest. She says if Deucalion has Scott with him, she doesn't stand a chance unless Derek is with her. She points out that the eclipse will mean 15 minutes when Deucalion is powerless. It is then she plans to finish him but she says she needs Derek's help and again promises the kidnapped parents will live if he helps her._**

"I don't trust her" Allison narrowed her eyes. "Me neither" Laura muttered.

 ** _Allison and Isaac search the woods for the Nemeton. Isaac says he can't pick up a scent due to the storm but then he hears the mini ultrasonic emitter and recognizes it as belonging to Chris Argent. They head off following the sound and find the giant tree stump and the entrance to the root cellar. As they make their way down the ground around the giant stump begins to give way with sinkholes forming on the surface. Chris Argent is relieved to see his daughter, both the Sheriff and Melissa McCall ask about their children as Isaac begins to untie them. In the loft, Lydia and Cora are about to leave when the twins separate and the girls realize they are still alive._**

"I wonder how that happened" Peter mumbled.

 ** _Scott and Deucalion arrive at the distillery and Scott sends a video text to Jennifer taunting her to come to them if she wants her revenge. According to the countdown on Jennifer's phone, there are 29 minutes left until the lunar eclipse. The cellar is collapsing around the parents, Isaac and Allison. Lydia and Cora have come to Dr. Deaton for help. Deaton carries one of the twins over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. They scramble to make room for them on an examination table. Deaton says he can only save them if they start healing on their own._**

"Like any other time" Talia said.

 ** _Jennifer arrives at the distillery. Scott is surprised to see Derek is with her. Scott asks what he's doing. Derek says he's trying to help. Deucalion makes a quip "brother against brother, how very American." Deucalion begins to shift. His skin takes on the texture and color of stone while his brow ridge thickens, expands and merges with his cheekbones to form a mask-like structure of bone. His ears, fangs and hair grow and his voice deepens as he encourages Jennifer to explain why she needed so much power to face him._**

"Dude looks like.." Stiles started, "A demon wolf?" Scott added and Stiles nodded.

 ** _The kidnapped parents, Isaac and Allison are trapped. The exit to the surface is blocked and the beams begin to crack and collapse. Isaac braces himself under one of the main supports and manages to keep the roof from total collapse. Deucalion easily dispatches Derek and Jennifer. Her magic force blasts that were so effective against the other Alpha's have zero effect on Deucalion. He is able to subdue her and then demands that Scott kill her. He lets out a roar that brings Scott to his knees and forces him to transform. Deucalion then takes a more measured approach, almost whispering to Scott that his mom and the other parents are dying, that Jennifer is using the storm to bury them alive. Deucalion says killing Jennifer will save them. Jennifer points out that killing her won't be the end. She says Deucalion will make Scott kill everyone he loves. Deucalion urges Scott to become the Alpha he's meant to be "become a killer." Scott says the parents aren't dead yet and that his "pack" will save them._**

"I love how he calls them his pack and how much trust he has in them" Boyd smiles. "Well they have always been to him, his pack" Erica said with a small smile of her own.

 ** _Isaac is losing strength and the beam he's holding up begins to slip. Dr. Deaton places oxygen masks on Ethan and Aiden and prepares a syringe of some unnamed clear liquid. Deucalion drops Jennifer and rushes Scott grabbing the younger man's hand and holding it claws up. He intends to force Scott to kill Jennifer. Scott says he forgot to tell Deucalion something Gerard told him. He points out that Deucalion is not always blind and drops two of the flashbang arrowheads we saw earlier at the Argents' Apartment._**

"That was a smart plan" Chris complimented with a smile.

 ** _Deucalion and Derek are partially blinded by the flash and at that moment the eclipse begins. The effect is immediate as Derek, Scott and Deucalion return to human form. Just as the last of the cellar roof is coming down, about to bury the parents and their would be rescuers, Stiles arrives and shoves an aluminum bat under the collapsing beam shoring it up and giving them all some extra time. Stiles and his father embrace._**

"The hero always makes an entrance at the last minute" Stiles grinned.

 ** _Jennifer, in her scarred and battered form, enters and throws Scott across the room. She then lands on Deucalion and begins bashing his head into the cement floor. Derek plays up to Jennifer's victim mentality by saying that Deucalion hasn't seen how she's suffered since he is unable to see her destroyed face. Jennifer heals his eyes, restoring his sight but also weakening herself to the point that she is unable to deliver the killing blow. She urges Derek to do it for her. Derek refuses saying his mother told him he's a predator but that he doesn't have to be a killer._**

Talia smiled at her son.

 ** _Jennifer turns on him and begins beating him. Derek flashes back to when Cora and Boyd, maddened by three months in a hecatolite vault, slashed him in the school boiler room._**

"You remember that right now?" Boyd asked. Derek shrugged, "guess I began to see her as a part of my pack".

 ** _Then the shadow passes from in front of the moon and Derek gets his strength back. Jennifer steps away and tosses Mountain Ash into the air. It forms a perfect circle around her. She says since Derek won't help her, she'll kill the parents and then have the power she needs to kill Deucalion and the rest of them. Scott steps up to the line of Mountain Ash and presses. The blue glow of the barrier's repelling force lights up Scott's face. Jennifer mocks his efforts from inside the circle. He applies constant and steady pressure. His eyes go yellow then become a solid red. Jennifer looks worried as Scott's hands seem to be pushing past the barrier until finally he breaks through with a release of energy that knocks Jennifer to the floor. She is astonished as are Deucalion and Derek._**

"That's some power" Peter said wide eyed. "More than a True Alpha has yet to possess" Talia said with equal amount of shock as her brother. "The Nematon must have given him some of its own strength maybe" Laura shrugged but she too was surprised.

 ** _Scott says he's an Alpha now and demands that she end the storm and let the parents go. He says if she won't he'll kill her himself "I don't care what it does to the color of my eyes." Deucalion says it won't do a thing to his eyes, steps forward and slashes Jennifer's throat. At the Nemeton, the storm ends and it's hugs all around. In the clinic, the twins wake up and Aiden tells Lydia that he knew she liked him._**

Lydia snorted.

 ** _Scott calls Stiles and says he'll come get them. Stiles says to "bring a ladder."_**

"A sturdy one" Stiles added with a laugh.

 ** _Derek reminds Deucalion that he was once a man of vision. Derek and Scott have decided to let Deucalion go in hopes that he can be that man again. Scott is less poetic, saying if Deucalion doesn't stop his evil ways that having his eyesight back won't matter because "you'll never see us coming."_**

"Alpha Scott at it with his threats" Laura laughed.

 ** _Chris Argent is putting away his weapons. Allison says he should keep them close. She believes that the Nemeton will become a beacon for supernatural creatures and that they should be prepared to fight if they must. She says they'll need a new code - "Nous protégeons ceux qui ne peuvent pas se protéger leurs-même." Which Chris translates as "We protect those who cannot protect themselves."_**

"This is why the women are the leaders of the family" Chrissmiled at his daughter.

 ** _Derek and Cora leave the loft with bags packed. In voice over Scott explains that he doesn't know if Derek is ever coming back. Agent McCall comes to the door to Scott's room and knocks. Scott opens the door and promptly closes it in his father's face. Melissa, around the corner down the hall, looks pleased at the daddy diss._**

"Only you mom" Scott laughed.

 ** _Scott's voiceover explains that his dad is staying around for a while but that he won't be welcome in his son's life. As he enters the high school Scott sees Aiden and Lydia flirting near the lockers. Danny and Ethan exit a classroom hand in hand and Allison and Isaac share a laugh as they descend the stairs. Scott says he and Stiles feel the darkness Deaton said they would. He says it feels like the Joseph Conrad Heart of Darkness quote. Like he's looking into "the heart of an immense darkness". He says instead of looking at the darkness, he looks for his friends. Stiles comes up behind him and wraps an arm around his shoulder. Scott looks genuinely happy. Deaton asks about Ms. Blake but Scott doesn't know what happened to her saying her body disappeared from the distillery._**

"Worrying" Melissa muttered.

 ** _In the woods, Jennifer crawls toward the Nemeton begging it to save her life again but as she reaches out for the top of the stump, a clawed hand grabs her and flips her over onto her back. It is Peter laughs saying "of course it's you."_**

"Even the bad guys expect you to do this" Stiles laughed.

 ** _She says everyone else suffers and but somehow Peter comes out on top. She says "now that Scott's an Alpha, you'll be able to steal it from him" and be an Alpha again. Peter balks at the word "again" he slashes Jennifer's throat. She seems dead. Peter claims he is already the Alpha and then screams that he has always been the Alpha._**

"Welcome back Psychotic Peter" Talia groaned.


	41. 3-12-0

AS the episode ended, Sky appeared in a burst of white light. He looked at the gathered people with a smile. _"I think you guys know why I am here"_ he said and the group nodded. _"Right so who would like to leave right now?"_ he looked at them. There were some murmurs among the group and then when it stopped, Erica and Boyd stepped forward. "The two of us are dead so I don't think we have any use in the future" Erica spoke sadly. "We would like to return and prevent what happened to us. Maybe look for ways to get the bite and not let things go on as we saw" Boyd added. Sky nodded with a soft smile _"I wish you both the best of luck"_ he snapped his fingers and they were gone.

Scott moved forward this time, "Can you uh do me a favor?" he asked nervously. Sky looked at him with a raised eyebrow, "Bring my father back" Scott pleaded. _"You know the rules Scott. Once you are gone, there is no coming back"_ Sky said. "Please?" Scott pleaded again. Sky sighed, seeing the look on his face, he could no longer not act, _"Since you asked nicely, I'll pull some strings"_ he said and closed his eyes. All six wings came out and began to vibrate, creating a soft humming noise. He reopened his eyes, which were now glowing deep blue and snapped his fingers. Rafael suddenly dropped at his feet in a messy heap. He groaned and got up to see he was back in that place. "I'm back" he mumbled. He turned to Sky, "I thought you could only bring someone once" he asked. Sky shrugged, _"I pulled some strings since your son asked so nicely"_ he smiled as Rafael turned to look at a smiling Scott. Sky turned his head and snorted. _"Had a nice nap?"_ he asked Malia who had just woken up. "Yeah I guess" she yawned and stretched. _"You better stay awake for this section. You make your debut soon"_ he said and Malia's ears perked up. _"Well let_ the _show begin"_ Sky disappeared from his place and the screen sizzled to life. __


	42. 3-13

**_Stiles is in his bedroom asleep. He tosses and turns and grips the sheets. He mumbles to himself. "No, no, no, no, don't let them in."_**

"Well it's been a while" Stiles mumbled.

 ** _Suddenly he finds himself, seemingly awake, trapped in a locker at school. As he stumbles into a classroom he sees the Nemeton growing out of the floor. As he reaches out to touch the Nemeton, thick vines shoot out of the stump and wrap around his hand._**

"You have nightmares of a tree?" Isaac raised an eyebrow. "To be fair, I went through trauma. And there is the darkness around the heart and stuff" Stiles defened.

 ** _He wakes, gasping for breath, back in his bedroom. Lydia is lying next to him and he explains to her that he was having a "dream within a dream."_**

"Dude!" Scott's jaws fell in shock as did Stiles'. "This…How did you even do that so fast!?" Isaac asked in shock. Lydia looked at the screen with varying degrees of emotion. On the outside, she was shocked, her mouth opened slightly. But on the inside, she felt a bit of happiness and it was growing inside her which she could tell from the warmth she felt.

 ** _Suddenly he realizes the oddity of having Lydia in his bed but before he can figure that part out, his door creaks open. Over Lydia's protests, he rises to close the door because, he says, "what if they get in?" Lydia becomes increasingly upset as he approaches the door, begging him not to enter. He enters anyway and finds himself outside and once again at the Nemeton. He screams in an attempt to wake himself up and apparently succeeds._**

"That was just a dream" Isaac laughed while Stiles sighed in disappointed. Lydia frowned, felling the warmth go out.

 ** _He awakens in daylight in his room, his father sticks his head in the door and tells him to get his butt to school. At school Stiles explains to Scott about "sleep paralysis" a condition whereby the sleeper's brain paralyses the body to avoid acting out a dream in the real world. Stiles says sometimes the brain wakes before the body recovers and a person becomes aware they are paralyzed. He posits that their surrogate sacrifice may have had lasting effects that are now manifesting in his sleep disorder. Stiles says what scares him the most is that he's not even sure that what's happening to him at that moment is real and not part of a dream. Stiles wakes screaming in his bed. His father rushes to hold him._**

"Okay this. This is not good in any way" Noah said biting his lips, never before hearing his son scream like that before. Claudia helped onto her son, her face clearly showing how scared she was while Stiles was silent.

 ** _Scott McCall is gathering up his books, preparing for school. He turns toward the door and catches sight of his shadow – his "shadow hand" seems to be a claw. He looks at his hand and sees that it remains untransformed. He closes and opens his hand the false shadow is gone._**

"And you're seeing things" Melissa sighed.

 ** _As he opens his door he is shocked to find Isaac Lahey standing there. After some uncomfortable banter, Isaac expresses concern that Scott might be angry with him. Scott says no, he is not angry, but when asked if he is sure about his answer he says no again. He explains that he's not sure how he's feeling. Isaac says Scott should hit him. Scott demurs but when Isaac insists he questions what, if anything, his friend has done to warrant a hit. He cites kissing as an example of something Isaac might have done, Isaac insists he hasn't kissed Allison. When Scott asks him if he wanted to kiss Allison, Isaac doesn't hesitate responding that he totally wanted to kiss her. Isaac flies through the door back into the hallway beyond striking the wall and rattling a picture frame. The noise draws Melissa McCall to the hall where she admonishes the "two supernatural teenage boys" not to test her patience._**

"Not mad at all" Laura sarcastically rolled her eyes.

 ** _As Stiles readies himself for school, packing books into his backpack, he realizes that he can no longer read the title of one of the books. The title reads "DALESI XIS ANLA" with the subtitle "DOL WTAR I AWND RHIE WUTTRNRRIENLA SAOTRGLE FGO TPONE" His father enters to ask if he's okay and the book's title reverts to English. It now reads "ALLIES AND AXIS" "WORLD WAR II AND THE INTERNATIONAL STRUGGLE FOR POWER"_**

"You're dyslexic now!?" Claudia exclaimed to a worried looking Stiles.

 ** _Stiles lies, assuring his father that he is fine after the nightmare. Noticing that his father is carrying a banker's box marked "SHERIFF'S STATION DO NOT REMOVE," Stiles questions him about it. Sheriff Stilinski doesn't explain simply saying they're "files from the office." Allison Argent leaves her apartment and enters the elevator. The air becomes much colder and the lighting dims. When the doors open she finds herself in the basement of Beacon Hills Hospital. The building is damaged with flickering florescent bulbs, broken furniture, and debris littering the corridor. She enters the morgue, water drips onto every surface. The door closes behind her. One of the corpse drawers pops open and the card on the front reads "CASE NO. 113/NAME OF DECEASED: KATE ARGENT/ PLACE OF DEATH (CITY): BEACON HILLS/PHYSICIAN: Dr. R. Smith" The sight triggers a series of flashbacks to including Kate Argent's death at the hands of Peter Hale._**

"Guess she is still bothering me" Allison sighed.

 ** _As she looks into the drawer, it seems endless, stretching back endlessly. The sound of creaking metal heralds the arrival of a dirty and screaming Kate Argent, crawling spider like, up the narrow conduit. Allison turns to run but as she pushes open the morgue door, she finds herself in the school hallway. Lydia Martin asks her if she is alright. Allison lies, shaking her head in the affirmative._**

"That was way too disturbing" Isaac shivered.

 ** _Scott arrives at school on his dirt bike. He catches a glimpse of his reflection, his eyes are glowing red. He shakes his head and his reflection returns to normal. As he walks across the quad, his shadow appears to be that of an Alpha Werewolf. He freaks out a bit and begins to run down the stairs toward the tunnel that leads to the athletic fields. He runs into Stiles who asks if his friend is alright. Scott lies, saying "I'm okay." Stiles sees through this and calls him on the hallucinations. Lydia arrives with Allison and announces that it is happening to all three of them._**

"Thank you thousand year old supernatural tree" Stiles rolled his eyes.

 ** _At his office, Sheriff Stillinski is working on an elaborate "murder board" that is covered with calendars, images and sticky notes with thumbtacked pieces of string connecting it all together. The Sheriff pins a picture of a girl with auburn hair to the board. This triggers a flashback of an overturned car with a bloody hand reaching from the back seat passenger side window. A post-it note reading "Malia Tate" is attached to the girl's photo._**

The person in question perked up, clearing knowing what the crash flashback was about. Noah looked at the screen then back at the girl who sat in a corner and his eyes widened in realization.

 ** _Lydia is thrilled that she's "no longer the crazy one." Allison protests saying they're not crazy but Lyida mocks her saying their various symptoms, hallucinations, sleep paralysis are all signs of folks who are just fine. Scott suggests that they are suffering side effects of dying and coming back to life and they all agree to keep an eye on each other. In history class, Mr. Yukimura introduces himself to the class explaining that he and his family moved to town "three weeks ago" and that his daughter attends the high school. He goes on to point out that his daughter never talks about people at school and has never brought anyone home, much to the embarrassment of his daughter Kira Yukimura who is sitting near the back of the class._**

"Hey it's that girl who poofed away at the end of first season" Stiles pointed out.

 ** _Scott catches Kira's eye and the two share a moment before he looks down to see his shadow growing into the monster figure once again._**

Allison bristled a little at the small moment between the two.

 ** _In the art classroom, Allison's hand is shaking as she tries to maneuver a red paint tipped brush to the art paper suspended from an easel. She admits to Lydia that the trembling has been interfering with her fine motor skills since the events. She throws down the brush which splashes red paint onto the paper. This triggers a memory of her aunt Kate's murder, the arterial blood splatter when Peter Hale slashed her throat. She also flashes back to her hallucination of Kate rushing toward her in the morgue. Lydia rips the splattered paper away and firmly demands that Allison should "start over." She does and seems to have more control with the brush as we see Isaac watching her closely from across the classroom._**

"I know they should be watching over one another, but that's just plain creepy" Peter muttered.

 ** _Stiles is trying to get into his locker but the combination lock isn't cooperating. Scott says that maybe they just need a little more time to get back to normal but Stiles points out that they hit "the reset button on a supernatural beacon for supernatural creatures" and that things won't ever go back to normal._**

"Well he isn't wrong" Derek said.

 ** _Stiles' vision shifts again. The numbers have transformed into rune-like symbols. With his enhanced Werewolf hearing Scott overhears Kira arguing with her father about embarrassing her in class. Suddenly she senses that Scott can hear her even though he is far down the hall. The two lock eyes for just a second before Scott turns back to Stiles._**

"She knew you were over hearing?" Allison asked. Scott just shrugged.

 ** _The dial on Stiles' locker now reads numbers instead of symbols. He notices that Scott's eyes are glowing red. The pair dash into a classroom where Scott begins to lose control of his transformation. He buries his claws into the palms of his hands drawing blood and regains himself. "Pain makes you human" he explains to Stiles._**

"That can't be the only way" Rafael asked, looking at Scott. "There are others, but that is the only option open to Scott" Talia explains and Rafael nods.

 ** _Stiles realizes that the effects are not just in their heads but are instead real. He confesses that he doesn't know if he's awake or asleep explaining to Scott that, like a dreamer, he can no longer read. He looks around the classroom and all of the posters and the notes on the black board are all nonsense, gibberish. Lydia pins a target to a tree in the Beacon Hills Preserve. Allison, bow in hand, questions if this target practice will help. Lydia says it won't unless she believes it will. Allison fires a couple of arrows and misses the target completely. Lydia suggests she try a "Mongolian Draw." Allison complies and turns the bow sideways across her chest; she draws back and fires but misses again. Lydia tries to help Allison visualize the arrow going into the target but this has the unwanted effect of causing Allison to hallucinate her dead aunt running through the woods. Allison grabs her bow and heads off after the vision saying "I'll be right back." Allison hears her aunt whispering her name, then sees the dead woman running full tilt at her in the dark. She draws her bow and quickly fires an arrow at the spectre. Suddenly, back in bright sunshine, Allison sees she has fired an arrow at Lydia. It would have struck her friend in the head had Isaac not jumped in and grabbed it._**

"No more arrows till you are better!" Lydia shouted. Allison nodded silently.

 ** _Later, Isaac relates the story to Scott who wonders aloud why Issac was following Allison around in the woods. Again, Isaac is thrown out the door and into the wall of the hallway. This time a painting falls from the wall and the glass shatters. Melissa McCall reminds them that "this house does not have a supernatural ability to heal!"_**

"I wish we had a house like that" Laura sighed. "Dude this is actually fun. You should do it more" Stiles snickered while Isaac scowled.

 ** _Stiles arrives at his dad's office with a flower arrangement. He says the last time they brought "one of these to her grave" it was stolen the same day. The Sheriff is busy with piles of file folders on the floor. He explains that he is going back through all the old cases to see if they were supernatural in nature. He says he has no choice but to apply his new knowledge to the old cases. He explains that one of his first cases as sheriff, the death of a mother and two children, may have had a supernatural component. At the time, they believed that the family was killed by coyotes and that one of the children was dragged away and eaten by a coyote. Now he thinks something else may have been to blame because it happened on a full moon._**

"Not dragged" Malia thought scowling.

 ** _Stiles notices that there are a number of other banker's boxes scattered around, packed up with files and labeled "Deliver to FBI Field Office| Special Agent McCall" when he asks about them, his father says they "need to talk." Stiles arrives in class and someone is in his seat. When he points this out to the student, she responds with sign language. Suddenly he realizes that everyone is completely silent. He sees Coach Bobby Finstock at the head of the class. The coach begins signing the same message as the student. Stiles decides to leave and the entire class begins signing at him, the same message, over and over, faster and faster until he snaps awake in Economics class with Coach Finstock now blowing a whistle at him._**

"Dude you know sigh language?" Scott asked and Stiles shook his head.

 ** _He thinks he fell asleep in class but Scott points out that he wasn't sleeping as evidenced by his notebook where Stiles has covered the page with the words "Wake Up" in a variety of forms and patterns._**

"Okay very very creepy" Stiles muttered.

 ** _In the outdoor lunch area, Lydia, Allison, Isaac, Stiles and Scott discuss the hallucinations and waking dreams. At one point Isaac cracks a joke that people with the same symptoms end up in mental institutions. Stiles become agitated the two exchange words with Stiles demanding that he try to be helpful and Isaac countering that he spent half his childhood "locked in a freezer" and being helpful is a new thing. Stiles belittles his childhood trauma asking "are you still milking that?"_**

The kids chuckled.

 ** _Kira walks up and interrupts saying she "overheard" what they were talking about and, to her, the symptoms sound like the Buddhist concept of Bardo. She says it's a transitional state of being between life and death, marked by visits from peaceful deities and demons and ultimately resulting in death. Stiles and Scott visit Dr. Deaton to discuss the hallucinations. He says it sounds like Stiles' subconscious is trying to communicate with him through sign language. He works out that the message Stiles was seeing is "When is a door not a door?" which is the first part of a riddle. The answer to the question is "When it's ajar" playing on the word for a partially open door and it's similarity in sound to the name of a glass cylinder used to store food. Deaton says when they died they opened a door in their minds and apparently left it partially open or ajar which he says is dangerous. He says they need to close the doors in their minds as soon as possible._**

"As if they know how to" Peter rolled his eyes.

 ** _Sheriff Stilinski arrives at the Vet Clinic looking for Scott. He wants help solving the Tate case, the apparent coyote attack from eight years before. He thinks Scott might be able to follow her scent to the body. The Sheriff arrives at the Tate Farm. Mr. Tate is unpacking a small rat trap explaining that he's been having a coyote problem and the trap will take away the predator's food source. The Sheriff launches into his explanation for the visit but it is all just a ruse to allow Scott and Stiles time to break into the missing little girl's bedroom and sniff around._**

"Really Noah?" Claudia rolled her eyes.

 ** _Scott is unable to find a trace of scent because the smell of the family dog is overwhelming everything else. They leave without any new leads and the Sheriff expresses regret at the scheme because he caused Mr. Tate pain by reopening the old wound left by the deaths of his family. Stiles explains why his father is so intent on solving the case immediately so he can solve one more while he's "still sheriff." Scott is yelling at his father as Melissa McCall arrives home. Agent McCall tries to explain that putting together evidence to impeach Sheriff Stilinski for a "lack of resolution and ability to close cases" is just "doing his job." Scott becomes so angry he begins to transform, seeing this Melissa gets him away from his father into the front hallway. She remembers that Stiles and Scott had worked out that werewolves develop anchors to avoid unwanted transformations and urges him to find his anchor. Scott says Allison was his anchor but he doesn't have her anymore._**

Allison sighed and cuddled into him, "I won't leave you again" she whispered to a now smiling Scott.

 ** _Melissa urges him to "be your own anchor" which Scott manages to do, stopping and then reversing the transformation. Melissa then shares some important wisdom with her son. She points out that he will fall in love again and that it will be just as intense and painful as the first time. She says until he falls in love again he should be his own anchor._**

"Wise words" Rafael smiled at his wife who did not look at him. He sighed and resumed watching.

 ** _Scott rushes over to Stiles' house and, with flashlight in hand, tells Stiles that they are going searching for a dead body. Alison and Isaac are making out. Allison asks for reassurance that Scott is okay with their relations, Isaac says he is even though Scott didn't come right out and say he was okay with it because he's "moved on." Allison notices something around his neck and suddenly Kate Argent pops up behind him, pulling a garrote tight around his neck and urging Allison to help her kill Isaac. Allison notes with some surprise that she has a Chinese ring dagger tucked behind her in bed. Allison wakes up gasping in her bed and is surprised to find that she really does have a Chinese ring dagger in bed. Lydia is asleep nearby; they appear to have dozed off while studying._**

Scott said nothing watching while Allison grew uncomfortable. Isaac on the other hand did not mind. Allison was a nice girl.

 ** _In the woods, Scott and Stiles manage to find the scene of the car wreck. The car is still there in the same spot where it crashed eight years before. Stiles speculates that it would have been too much trouble to tow it out from way back in the woods. They find a doll in the wreckage, the same doll seen in a photograph at the Tate house earlier, the doll's voice box triggers and scares Stiles._**

"Again creepy" Stiles mutters.

 ** _They hear a roar and Scott notices two glowing eyes in the trees beyond. He calls on Stiles to confirm what he is seeing is real, then sets off after the grey furred creature. Scott catches up and faces it, his eyes glow red and the other creature's eyes glow blue, indicating it has taken an innocent life. He calls out the name "Malia" as the animal runs away._**

"You're a coyote?" Scott asks the girl, having figured out who she was. Malia nodded but said nothing else.

 ** _On a table lined with bloody knives, wire cutters and other torture tools, a cell phone buzzes. A message on the screen reads "Scott McCall: Derek Call me." This is followed immediately by a second text reading "Scott McCall: Derek, need help. Call back ASAP!" Peter and Derek Hale hang suspended on a section of chain link inside a warehouse of some sort. The fencing is electrified, sending shocks through the two men's bodies at regular intervals. Electricity applied in this fashion can keep werewolves from transforming. Peter says Derek acts like this is all his fault which Derek points out is true. A shadowy figure dials up the electric current._**

"I must agree" Talia said. "It is always you're fault whenever we are in a situation like that". Peter groaned and rolled his eyes.


	43. 3-14

**_Derek and Peter remain chained to the fencing. Sparks fly from their bodies as electricity flows across the metal. A bearded man indicates the device that is controlling the electricity and explains that it is old and unreliable. He says sometimes they adjust it too high and the victims just die. Sometimes their bodies keep jumping even after their hearts stop._**

"Fun" Stiles said sarcastically.

 ** _Peter is still cracking jokes, claiming the amperage is "a little high." The man is interrogating the pair, looking for the location of "la loba." He threatens to cut one of them in half with a chainsaw to get the other one to talk. He wonders aloud how far their "little healing trick" goes._**

"I'm sure if a giant ass sword can kill us, a chainsaw can do that too" Peter rolled his eyes.

 ** _They are interrupted by an older woman who continues to question them in Spanish. In English she asks "Where is the "she wolf?"_**

"Of course it would be her" Chris sighed. "You know her dad?" Allison asked. Chris nodded, "She leads the Calaveras. A hunting family based in Mexico" he explained.

 ** _WOMAN_**

 ** _No tiene que ser tan duro. (I doesn't have to be that hard)_**

 ** _DEREK_**

 ** _No hablo Español. (I don't speak spanish)_**

 ** _WOMAN_**

 ** _Tu hablas muchos idiomas, Derek Hale. (You speak a lot of languages, Derek Hale)_**

 ** _She calls Derek "lobito" or "little wolf" and says she knows he won't talk but believes Peter will. She says Peter loves the sound of his own voice. He jokes that she should hear him sing. She cuts off his right finger and stabs the claw of the severed digit into the wooden floor._**

"Now that was just plain rude!" Peter glared. "Serves you right" Talia mumbled, still upset about the whole Paige and Derek thing.

 ** _She says she'll only ask 9 more times and leaves. Scott is still pursuing the werecoyote through the woods and runs into Stiles who leads them to the coyote's den. Inside, they find Malia Tate's clothes as well as some toys and are convinced that she is the creature._**

"You guys broke into my home" Malia growled. "What's she upset about? It's a stupid hole on a cliff side" Stiles whispered to Scott who shrugged.

 ** _Scott says by invading the den, they've guaranteed that Malia won't return because their scent is everywhere. Scott believes he could track her better if he transformed but says he can't due to his fear of losing control. He says since Derek hasn't responded to his texts they'll have to find someone else to help. Saying the den is a crime scene they call in Sheriff Stilinski._**

"Smart move there boys" Noah said with a smile.

 ** _The Sheriff is incredulous that the coyote is actually a girl. Scott and Stiles spin a scenario whereby the accident that killed the Tate family was caused when Malia transformed while her mom was driving. Malia, wracked with guilt at the death of her family, runs off into the woods and becomes trapped inside the body of a coyote. This is all speculation on their part and not confirmed fact. The sheriff is again incredulous and says it's insane. Scott has a hallucination where he (transformed) has Malia laid over a rock and is about to slash her with his claws._**

"Now that was insane" Stiles pointed out. Malia growled, baring her teeth.

 ** _Scott's Dad shows up with Mr. Tate. He seems angry and snaps at Scott that he'll talk to his mom about letting him run around the woods at night. Mr. Tate confirms that some of the clothing found in the den belonged to Malia. Agent McCall explains that's why he brought Tate to the scene, to gain confirmation. He also gets in an insult about how Stilinski can't close cases. McCall says they should do a little digging and they are sure to uncover something. Stilinski counters that the case is far more complicated and addresses him with a snide "Special Agent."_**

"A bottle of the authorities" Laura muttered and ate popcorn which happened to appear in a bowl on her lap.

 ** _McCall then gives a quick lesson in grieving parents, saying it's the "not knowing" that ruins them and that the truth, no matter "how profoundly it sucks" is always better than not knowing. Malia runs through the woods and comes out on an outcropping overlooking the lights of Beacon Hills. The moon is full. In class, Stiles uses his phone to show Allison the location of Malia's den. It is at the convergence of a several trails which Allison says could narrow their search because coyotes travel on "fixed trails." She adds that Scott is right about her not going back to the den because coyotes don't like wolfs. She also says they're really smart and if they don't want to be heard they walk on their toes. Stiles says "Coyotes tiptoe?" Allison agrees._**

"You tiptoe?" Stiles asked the coyote turned girl. "I walk" was all she said.

 ** _The school bell sounds and Kira, brimming with nervous energy, awkwardly approaches Scott. She says she's done a couple of hours of research on Bardo and printed it out for him. She's unable to find the pages in her book bag. Then her father walks up and says that she forgot the research she printed out for "that boy you like."_**

"I feel so bad for Kira" Lydia mumbled and Allison nodded in agreement, even though it was her boyfriend who Kira was crushing on.

 ** _Kira is mortified. Scott looks happy and a little excited. Mr. Yukimura starts class. They are apparently learning about the internment camps the government forced Asian-Americans into during World War II. He calls on Stiles to read in front of the class but as he tries the letters begin to slide off the page. He begins to panic and Scott rushes him from the room. In the restroom, Stiles is gasping. He says he thinks he's dreaming but Scott assures him he is not and gets him to count his fingers and this calms Stiles considerably._**

Great I'm breaking down in class. What next? I start doing things I'm not even aware of?" Stiles rolled his eyes.

 ** _Scott assures him they will be okay but Stiles is not convinced. He reminds his friend that he can't transform and Allison is being haunted by her dead aunt. As for himself, he says he is "straight up losing my mind." He seems defeated claiming that they are not up to the task of helping Malia or anyone else in their current condition. Scott's response is that they can try, they "can always try." The bell ending class rings. Mr. Yukimura reminds them to read the chapters on "President Carter and the Commission on Wartime Relocation." Kira notices that Scott and Stiles have not returned and their book bags were left behind. She carries the bags down the hall._**

"Aw! That's nice of her" Laura smiled.

 ** _She sees a growling Malia/werecoyote. The creature attacks. Kira ducks into the locker room where she drops the bags and hides from the very angry beast. Malia comes crashing through the frosted glass window set in the door._**

"Why do you want to hurt her?" Stiles asked. Malia shrugged, "She is in my home" she said. "That's the school" Isaac pointed out. "She is in my home" she repeated.

 ** _Just as she's about to get caught, Scott shows up and pushes the lockers over onto the coyote. Malia flees and Scott notices Stiles' book bag is ripped open, one vacant eye of a little girl's doll is staring out of the gap._**

"Creepy dolls" Stiles muttered.

 ** _Peter's severed finger continues to bleed.. Peter asks his captor if it would be possible to put the digit on ice or perhaps something for his hand "an extra-large Band-Aid or some antibiotic ointment." Shadows move on the floor above the torture chamber. We hear the sound of glass breaking. The guard readies his rifle and fires up into the slatted wood ceiling. Round after round is fired above too, the shell casings cascade down through gaps in the boards. The front door crashes inward, a woman's hand reaches for the guard's gun and takes it from him. He throws a punch but she uses the butt of the gun to pound him and send him sprawling. When she turns toward Derek and Peter we see it is Braeden the mysterious girl who saved Isaac who everyone thought was dead. She has thick scars on her face and neck from her fight with the Alpha Pack._**

"She survived?" Peter asked in shock. "Maybe she got turned by the claws" Talia shrugged.

 ** _She explains that someone paid her to save Isaac and that Deucalion sent her to save Derek but not Peter. When asked why she would work for the man who scarred her face she replies "a girl's gotta eat." She frees them both and Peter grabs his finger from the floor. Placing it against the stump, his healing ability reattaches the digit. Braeden is ready to leave but Derek says "we're not leaving without it" but doesn't explain what "it" might be. Animal control officers rush down the hallway at the high school. The Sheriff says if Malia hurts someone "they'll have to put it down." Stiles quickly reminds him that they're talking about a "her" not an "it." While he says he still believes in the supernatural, he doubts that the coyote is a girl and not an animal. Stiles says he is 100% sure because Scott's sure. Scott is listening to them from the end of the hall. As a demonstration of his friend's supernatural abilities, Stiles turns to his father and whispers "Scott you been listening?" Scott nods and the Sheriff acquiesces._**

"Low key love their friendship" Laura muttered to Derek who nodded.

 ** _Kira assures her father that she is fine. He wants to know why she wasn't heading to lunch with everyone else. She explains that she was trying to return the boys' book bags to do "something nice" saying that's how you make friends or "so I've heard." Scott hears this exchange._**

"Stalker" Allison coughs then looks at Scott innocently when he gives her a look.

 ** _Stiles has figured out that Malia was looking for the doll in his back pack. As he shows it to Scott, Mr. Tate storms in demanding to know where he got it. He says it belonged to his daughter. The sheriff intervenes and realizes that Mr. Tate has a gun under his jacket. While he has a permit to carry the weapon, California schools are "gun free zones" meaning he is breaking the law by bringing it on campus. The sheriff asks him to leave. He leaves, demanding that the Sheriff "find that animal… …that thing." Allison retrieves a tranquilizer gun from her apartment and texts Scott that she's "Got it." At the Beacon Hills Animal Clinic, Scott, Stiles and Isaac seek the help of Dr. Deaton. The vet provides them with three vials of Xylazine which he describes as a "horse tranquilizer." He says for a werecoyote it should work in seconds but he only has the three vials so whoever is handling the tranquilizer gun needs to be a "damn good shot." Scott says Allison is a perfect shot but Isaac says "she used to be" having witnessed her inability to hit the also points out that they may not be able to find "the thing." Stiles, tired of Isaac's negativity, asks "what's the point of him?" He also questions "what's up with the scarf anyway?" pointing out that "it's 65 degrees out."_**

"We all have a negative Nancy in the group" Laura laughed.

 ** _Isaac is undeterred, asking the most difficult question of all; "how do we turn a coyote back into a girl when she hasn't been a girl for eight years?" Scott says he can do it pointing out that Peter once forced him to transform using just his voice and that Deucalion did the same thing. Deaton questions if werewolf abilities will work on a werecoyote. Scott says he called Derek to get him to teach him how to do it. Knowing they need a "real Alpha" Stiles suggests the twins. Deaton points out that they twins are no longer Alphas because Jennifer "broke that part of them." Believing they still may know how to "do it." They decide to seek them out. Scott believes no one has seen the pair in weeks, but Stiles knows Lydia is still in contact with Aiden._**

"Of course she is" Stiles rolled his eyes while Lydia blushed getting what 'contact' the future Stiles was talking about.

 ** _Scott, Lydia and Stiles arrive at Derek's Loft and the twins attack Scott. Pounding on him saying he needs to lose control. They shout that he has to give in and become the monster, the beast. They continue that becoming the monster doesn't make you the "bad guy" as long as you can control it. Scott questions what would happen if he can't control it and is told by Ethan that "it takes over. You become Malia and you get further and further from being human. You turn into an animal or worse." Aiden says "You turn into Peter."_**

"Great I'm an example for worse than animal" Peter groaned and rolled his eyes.

 ** _This causes Scott to flash back to the night Peter "died," he sees the creature Peter was. Scott rushes Aiden, but the former Alpha flips him up onto the table and begins pounding on his face. His brother steps in to stop him. Scott's face is covered in blood._**

"That is not helping" Stiles scowled.

 ** _At the Tate farm, Mr. Tate is testing a bear trap, he pushes a piece of firewood into the trigger and the sharpened jaws snap shut._**

Malia flinched at the pure look of glee on her father's face when the trap worked.

 ** _Allison and Isaac are at the Argent's apartment getting ready to hunt. Allison asks Isaac if he is sure he can track Malia's scent. He assures her that he can saying her scent is "kinda strong" because he picked it up from her pee._**

"Gross" Allison pulled a face.

 ** _Allison tries to load the syringe with the Xylazine but her hands are shaking. She drops the bottle, bends down to pick it up and stands back up. Instead of her apartment, she finds herself in the Beacon Hills Hospital Morgue. There is a patient on the table under a blanket but when she pulls the sheet back - she is the patient looking up at a group of doctors. Kate Argent appears to be doing an autopsy on her. Allison's chest is cracked open and her organs are all visible. Kate removes the heart saying "there's definitely something wrong with it" before she throws it aside. She says the rest of the organs look fine and then the doctors turn into werewolves and start eating Allison's entrails. Allison snaps back to reality and is pointing the tranquilizer gun at Isaac. She apologizes and Isaac holds her hand and helps her load the syringe._**

"This is getting out of hand" Chris muttered.

 ** _Stiles' Jeep, Scott's dirt bike and Allison's car arrive in the Beacon Hills Preserve. Lydia asks if they might be doing more harm than good. Scott says they're helping make sure a man doesn't kill his daughter. Sheriff Stilinski throws down a bear trap on the Tate's kitchen table and says a jogger found it in the woods. Turns out Tate has set up dozens of such traps._**

"That is plain dangerous and irresponsible" Rafael said in anger.

 ** _He then realizes that his screen door has been torn open. Believing that the coyote is in the house, Tate grabs his shotgun and goes after it. They spot the coyote sitting in the yard with the doll from Stiles' backpack siting under it. Tate gets off a shot at the animal before the sheriff can stop him. Hearing the gunfire, Scott takes off on his bike toward the shots. Isaac and Allison chase after on foot. Stiles works out that the doll is key. He first saw it in a picture in Malia's room. Her sister was holding in the picture and Stiles realizes that Malia had placed the doll in the car's wreckage as one might leave flowers on a grave. They removed the doll from the grave and Malia's been trying to return it._**

"huh" the teens mumbled.

 ** _Isaac steps in one of Tate's traps and howls in pain. The cry from the Beta is strong enough and loud enough in Scott's ears to knock him off his motorbike. Allison catches up to Isaac who urges her to take the shot and tranquilize Tate before the man can shoot the coyote. Allison's first shot hits a tree. Isaac calms her down, she takes a deep breath, says the new Argent motto in French "Nous protégeons ceux qui ne peuvent pas se protéger eux-mêmes" or "We protect those who cannot protect themselves" and fires the shot striking Tate in the shoulder. He drops to the ground and Malia runs off._**

"Finally" Lydia and Allison sigh loudly before looking at each other with a grin.

 ** _Stiles tries to reach Scott on his cell but gets his voice mail. He leaves a message explaining the doll thing. When he turns back to Lydia he sees that she has stepped on one of Tate's bear traps. The only reason it hasn't snapped close is that she is still holding the trigger down with her foot. If she tries to step off it will have her. She tells Stiles to look for disarming instructions on the device. When he questions why someone would put such a thing on a trap she responds "because animals can't read." Stiles, unfortunately, can't read either at the moment; the words are just a collection of random letters._**

"Fuck!" Stiles swore loudly. "Language young man!" Claudia slapped his son on the back of his head.

 ** _Lydia says to forget the instructions that if anyone can figure it out it's Stiles because that's what he does, he figures stuff out. After a few minutes studying the mechanism, Stiles discovers a large screw that tightens the spring. By twisting it he can delay the closing of the trap, he does and Lydia steps away just in time._**

"Guess you know me better than I know me at that point" Stiles laughed in relief that Lydia was safe. Lydia looked at the laughing boy with a soft smile on her face.

 ** _Scott allows himself to "wolf out" while chasing Malia. His eyes glow red and he leaps across the ravine that holds the Tate's wrecked car. He lands in front of the coyote. The animal growls at him but he growls back, using his werewolf voice that carries so far and with such force that Isaac eyes begin to glow and he rips the trap from his leg. Stiles hears the roar as well and says "that's what I'm talking about."_**

"A howl strong enough to power the whole pack even when scattered like that. That's what an Alpha should be like" Talia smiled.

 ** _The werecoyote turns into a very pretty girl. The Sheriff returns Malia to her father and, sitting in the Sheriff's SUV, Stiles realizes he can read again. At the Sheriff's Office, FBI agents, including McCall, tote out box after box of files. The sheriff slams the door after them. Peter, Braeden and Derek enter a mansion. They find a chest made from a Rowen Tree or Mountain Ash. Derek tries to touch it but his hand is repelled by the wood. Braeden kicks off the lock and opens the chest. It is filled with Mountain Ash dust. Braeden reaches in and removes a carved cylinder with the Triple Spiral pattern on the top._**

"Well guess she wasn't turned. And is that my box?" Talia narrowed her eyes.

 ** _In the woods at the Nemeton, a gloved figure approaches and, noticing a small sprig of green is growing out of the top of the stump, rips away the fresh growth and casts it on the ground. The figure turns and walks away. From the crack where the little green sprig had been sprouting, a firefly emerges. It is followed by dozens, then hundreds more. The bug swarms begin to take on three distinctively humanoid shapes._**

"Can we never have a good end to our day? Like first it's crazy Peter then we had ugly witch doctor and the five Alpha's and now we have bug men to look out for" Stile groaned out loud.


	44. 3-15

**_Agent McCall is managing a secure patient transfer to Beacon Hills Hospital and tells the ambulance driver to go around back and to keep quiet about the identity of the patient._**

"Must be one hell of a dangerous guy if you are keeping him this hushed" Noah muttered to Rafael.

 ** _Inside the emergency waiting area, Melissa McCall is adjusting a jack-o'-lantern when she catches sight of her ex-husband and Sheriff Stilinski on a collision course. Stilinski is livid and says the FBI can't bring the patient inside the hospital. He says they'll have to take him elsewhere but Agent McCall says no other hospital will take him, all claiming they are over capacity and can't handle another surgery. The patient is rolled in past the McCalls and the Sheriff; we see his feet and arms are strapped down with thick padded cuffs of leather. Melissa realizes that she will have to do his pre-op interview._**

"William Barrow!?" Rafael sucked in a breath. Noah and Melissa shivered, knowing why exactly this lunatic was arrested. "Why was he arrested?" Stiles asked. "He blew up a fully loaded bubs of kids" Rafael said making the teens gulp.

 ** _In the school locker room, Stiles is lurking with a flashlight while talking to Scott on the phone. It's fifteen minutes after midnight, officially Mischief Night or "Mischief Night/Day," and Stiles says it is a tradition to prank Coach Finstock. October 30th is also Coach Finstock's birthday. Stiles is frustrated that Scott isn't there yet. Scott claims to be in bed already but then suddenly appears behind Stiles with eyes aglow, frightening him badly._**

"Great. Scott has learned how to pull a Derek" Stiles rolled his eyes.

 ** _Agent McCall warns his ex-wife about the patient she is about to meet. He was a former electrical engineer who decided to walk onto a school bus with a shrapnel bomb. Four of the students on the bus died, another lost his legs. The patient allegedly says that if he gets out he will do it again and next time he's going to get it right._**

"At least he is dedicate" Isaac said with a weak laugh.

 ** _The "Pre Operative Questionnaire" Melissa is holding says "Name: William Barrow - Date of Birth: 05/24/60 – Height: 6ft 2in – Weight: 155lbs" and includes spaces for blood pressure readings as well as a number of rote questions about other issues. Melissa reads from the form asking if Barrow understands that scar tissue has formed around a piece of shrapnel that "remains in your body from a previous injury and that it is now blocking vital functions?" She then explains that they will put him under general anesthesia "tomorrow morning" for the surgery to remove the obstruction. Instead of answering her questions, Barrow asks if the kids still pull pranks the day before Halloween. Melissa calls it Mischief Night but Barrow says where he's from it was known as "Hell Night."_**

"Maybe because in older times, people thought that demon's walked the earth on this night and the dead came back to have their revenge or something" Lydia mumbled.

 ** _She then lists off the medications he is taking "Temazepam" (treats insomnia) and Divalproex (treats seizures and manic episodes). When she leans in to listen to his heart, he leans up and says "why don't you just ask the question you really want to ask?" Melissa asks why he attacked the bus and Barrow explains that he saw the children's eyes glowing then begins to rave and scream._**

"Glowing eyes? You don't think" Laura looked to Derek who nodded, thinking along the same lines as his sister.

 ** _Scott and The Twins arrive at school on their motorcycles at the same time. Scott wonders if they've reenrolled but they've just come to ask to join his pack. Stiles thinks this is a bad idea and Isaac agrees pointing out they held Derek while Kali impaled Boyd on his claws._**

"While that is a fine point, I think keeping them close would be a good idea" Talia said. "And why is that?" Allison asked. "For one, they are omegas and would come into the target of other wolves, so it gives them shelter. And second, they will add strength. I think you could use it" she explained and Scott nodded thoughtfully.

 ** _Aiden argues they would add strength making Scott more powerful. Isaac and Aiden almost come to blows but Scott puts a restraining hand on Isaac's arm. Aiden's eyes glow bright blue during the confrontation. Scott says his friends don't trust them and neither does he so, no, they can't join his pack._**

"Good reason to not add the" Stiles huffs.

 ** _Aiden thinks they should reenroll in school to show Scott they are serious about being better people. He says they have to do something because they are now Omegas and the people they screwed over will come looking for them because they're weak. Ethan says being dead would be better than going back to high school but then sees Danny talking to his ex-boyfriend and acquiesces. He still refuses to take math and Aiden says he'll take it for him._**

"They really are serious huh?" Scott asks. "Cause they screwed people over and are now in danger. I still say no to them" Isaac rolled his eyes.

 ** _Inside the school, chaos reigns with rolls of toilet paper flying through the air and kids running up and down the halls. Scott stares at Kira as she places items into her locker. When Stiles asks about it, Scott says he likes her, "She's okay. She's new." Stiles suggests he ask her out but Scott demurs. Stiles pushes saying Scott, as the Alpha, is now the "Apex Predator." He says everybody wants Scott describing his as "like the hot girl every guy wants." Scott repeats this "I'm the hot girl" and Isaac agrees "Yes you are."_**

The erupted into laughter while Scott pouted with a slight blush.

 ** _Entering his office, Coach Finstock is prepared to be pranked. He looks for hidden wires or a bucket suspended over the door. He finds a wrapped box on his desk and pokes at it with a lacrosse stick. Satisfied that there are no obvious booby traps, he opens the box. Inside are screws. The coach is amused, thinking this is a poor prank, but the box is attached to a hidden wire and, when he lifts it, all of the pictures and shelves fall off his walls. Apparently, the screws inside the box had formerly been holding them securely in place. He sits down in frustration but the pranksters have removed the screws holding his chair together as well and it collapses under his weight._**

"This was brilliant" Stiles laughed and wiped a stray tear off his face.

 ** _His cry of "Son of a bitch!" echoes out into his classroom where Scott and Stiles smile and the rest of the class laugh. Finstock enters the room on a tear, railing against Mischief Night and Halloween. Apparently, his house gets egged every year. Again, he sees a wrapped gift on his desk. Thinking it is another prank he throws the box on the floor and stomps it. Hearing glass break, bends down to investigate and finds a broken coffee mug adorned with his picture and the caption "#1 Coach". An attached card says "Happy Birthday Love, Greenberg."_**

"The one genuine gift he gets" Claudia sighed.

 ** _Lydia is waving her arm around, swatting at the air. She hears a fly but Danny, watching from across the classroom sees there is nothing there. Lydia looks toward the ceiling and the sound of flies becomes a more uniform buzz. In the operating suite at Beacon Hills Hospital, William Barrow is in the middle of surgery. The doctor jokes that he should make a minor slip and let the SOB bleed out on the table. Something inside Barrow's open wound is pulsing, getting bigger until it finally bursts open and flies swarm out into the room. Barrow wakes from the anesthesia, grabs a scalpel, and goes after the doctor. By the time Sheriff Stilinski and Agent McCall arrive, the murderer has escaped and the doctor is bleeding out on the floor in Melissa's arms._**

"Okay that was both disgusting and abnormal. He had flies in his body! And Lydia you predicted the fly thing how?" Stiles asks her. Lydia shrugged, "might be a Banshee thing. I don't know".

 ** _Back in his Beacon Hills loft, Derek Hale is using a fishhook to reattach Peter Hale's finger. He opens the container they retrieved with Braeden and pours four werewolf claws onto the table. He explains that after the Hale House Fire, the claws were all that was left of his mother, Talia Hale. He expects Peter to insert his dead sister's nails underneath his own and then plunge them into Derek's neck so that Derek can ask his dead mother a question._**

"That is both sentimental, gross and dangerous at the last part!" Talia hissed.

 ** _The wooden container in which the claws were kept was apparently specially designed for this purpose as it has four finger holes in the bottom. When Peter jams his hand inside the claws will be driven into his nail beds._**

'That looked painful" Peter hissed.

 ** _Melissa explains to the Sheriff about the flies. She says there is a natural phenomenon called Myiasis in which bug larva, like maggots, can grow inside a living human but says it's not likely in the stomach. She also clues him in to why Barrow attacked the "teenagers" on the bus. The Sheriff immediately recognizes the significance of the "glowing eyes" reference. Agent McCall says they got a tip that the stolen ambulance, presumably Barrow's get-away vehicle, was spotted at the corner of "Truman and Spalding" which the Sheriff says is just three blocks from the school._**

"SO he is after more glowing eyes. Just like he promised" Isaac adds with a snort.

 ** _Aiden approaches Lydia in hallway. She gives him a curt speech about how there is no way he can give her "two weeks of nothing" then come back and expect that they'll instantly be in Coach's office ripping each other's clothes off. One second later they are wrapped in each other's arms, stumbling into Coach's office. The come up for air long enough to realize that the desk is broken (another side-effect from the prank) and decide to use the Guidance Office instead. As they close the door, we see William Barrow was standing behind it, inside the office, the entire time._**

"Oh my God" Lydia groaned. "At least we know that the culprit is in the building" Stiles said with a smirk.

 ** _Barrow picks up a staple gun from the floor and begins to staple his wound closed. The FBI and the Sheriff's Department seal off the school. Stiles clues in Isaac, Allison, and Lydia about Barrow's motive for attacking the bus and his escape from the hospital saying the "live flies" thing would be awesome under any other circumstances. Lydia picks up on the bit about the flies, saying she has been hearing the constant buzzing like flies all day. Allison heads off to research the Bestiary while Stiles and Lydia look for Scott. Kira and Mr. Yukimura are in his classroom eating lunch. Kira is taking pictures of her father with a bright yellow phone._**

 ** _The quote on the blackboard during this scene -_**

 ** _"History will be kind to me for I intend to write it." - Winston Churchill_**

 ** _Mr. Yukimura asks why Kira is sitting with him instead of eating in the cafeteria with other students. She explains that she hasn't made any friends yet and doesn't really understand why. She says she had friends at her old school but in Beacon Hills, every time she opens her mouth she "starts rambling like an idiot."_**

"Same" Stiles said thinking of times he tried making friends before he met Scott.

 ** _Her father tries to reassure her that "someone will show an interest" because she is beautiful. Kira jokes that the only one to show interest is a "rabid coyote". Mr. Yukimura counters that she can date the coyote. Kira confesses, with Scott listening at the door, that she doesn't want to date and doesn't want a boyfriend. She "just wants to make a few friends."_**

"Poor hot girl" Allison teased.

 ** _Stiles and Lydia catch up to Scott and explain about Barrow's escape. Lydia says she can't hear anything except for the buzzing now. Stiles tries to convince his father that the police shouldn't leave because Lydia has a supernatural feeling about Barrow still being at the school. Sheriff Stilinski is confused pointing out that "Lydia wasn't on the chess board". When Stiles says she's now on the board, his father wonders aloud "Kanima?" Stiles corrects him and says she is a Banshee which he says means she can sense when someone is close to death. The Sheriff says he has to go with eyewitness over Banshee and leaves the school taking all but a handful of deputies with him. The school is on lock-down until 3PM. Melissa brings Barrow's personal effects to Scott at school. She urges him to be careful because she looked right into Barrow's eyes and "it was terrifying." He promises to be careful and kisses her on the forehead._**

"He so won't be" Melissa groaned.

 ** _At the door to the school basement, Scott meets up with Aiden, Ethan and Isaac. The plan is to use their enhanced sense of smell to track Barrow at the school. Allison has to sneak out of school to get home to search the Bestiary. She says it's like "a thousand pages long" and she could be searching all night. Lydia tells her the word for flies in archaic Latin is "Muscas" and Allison climbs out the window of one of the classrooms. It's 2:35 PM when Stiles and Lydia begin their search "upstairs." In a basement hallway, Isaac questions Scott about trusting the twins to help with the search. Scott says just because he's working with them doesn't mean he trusts them. Isaac confesses that he hates them and wants them to die. Scott points out that with Barrow around he might get what he wants. This makes Isaac smile._**

Stiles snorts, "nice".

 ** _On what is labeled the "EAST" hallway in the basement, Aiden and Ethan search together. Ethan apparently hears something and they pause before jumping around a corner. Danny and his ex-boyfriend are standing there kissing. Aiden laughs at Ethan who can only say "oh really" in a choked voice. Danny looks a little sheepish while his ex looks away._**

"Ouch" Laura hissed.

 ** _In the art classroom, Lydia and Stiles continue their search. Stiles explains the plan in which Scott and Isaac will search one end of the basement while Ethan and Aiden search the other. They plan to meet in the middle in the boiler room. Seeing a picture of a nuclear mushroom cloud, Lydia realizes that all the kids with glowing eyes are heading to the boiler room. Stiles realizes Barrow, as an electrical engineer, would have the ability to turn the boiler room into a bomb. He pulls the fire alarm to evacuate the school and gets himself into trouble with Coach Finstock who says if he were "four years younger" he would punch Stiles._**

"That makes no sense!" Noah said with a snort.

 ** _Scott and the other wolves join Stiles and Lydia. It's now 3:00 PM and school is over. They all look to Lydia to see if everyone is safe but she says she doesn't know. In the library, Kira has her earbuds in and can't hear the fire alarm. Coach Finstock gets her attention and forces her out of the school. In the next row of books over, William Barrow is watching as Kira exits._**

"Three guesses who the next target is" Stiles said a bit loudly. "The fox girl" Isaac said, remembering the girl introducing herself.

 ** _Peter is reluctant to help Derek with the claw thing. He say he do it if he's allowed to keep Talia's claws when they're done. Peter says he'll do it but hesitates and Derek forces his hand into the cylinder. At Kira's house, Mr. Yukimura has invited Scott for dinner. Mr. Yukimura has prepared sushi - Hamachi, Uni, Ikura and Hirame. Scott admits he's never tried sushi. Kira is mortified and says they were supposed to have lasagna for dinner. Her father admits he was trying to impress Scott and offers to make lasagna instead but Scott says he's happy to try the sushi. When he fumbles with his chopsticks Kira first teaches him how to hold them then catches a piece of sushi in midair after Scott drops it._**

"Now that was cool" Stiles says with a grin.

 ** _Lydia is lying on Stiles' bed. He has constructed an elaborate (some might say obsessive) murder board on two walls of his bedroom. Stiles connects a red piece of yarn from a picture of William Barrow to a picture of the high school. Lydia asks what each different color string means. Stiles explains that each color represents a different stage of the investigation, green is solved, yellow is "to be determined" and blue is just "pretty." Lydia asks about red and Stiles says that means unsolved. She points out that he only has red string on the board. Stiles says he has detention every day this week for pulling the fire alarm. Lydia begins to doubt herself because they couldn't find any trace of Barrow being at the school. Stiles comforts her, saying she's been right every time something like this has happened. Lydia points out that the werewolves couldn't find a scent and there was no bomb but Stiles persists, adamant that Barrow was there because Lydia felt it. He then removes the top from a felt tip marker and sniffs. This causes a realization and he jumps up heading for the school._**

"Sniffing markers? Seriously?" Noah asked his son with a weird look on his face. Stiles just shrugged.

 ** _Allison searches the pages of the bestiary on her computer. She hears a noise like someone walking, then a sizzling sound and a high pitched yelp followed by another, equally high pitched, cry. Isaac appears in the doorway. He points out that Allison has electrified the windows and didn't tell him._**

"Good going" Chris whispers to a smirking Allison.

 ** _Allison is amused by this. She wants to know why Isaac came; he says he is there to help. Allison wants to know if he can read Latin, he can't but says he can look at pictures. They click over to the next page of the bestiary and are confronted by a drawing of a classical Japanese devil mask. In the loft, Peter says he's going to enjoy jabbing Derek in the neck with Talia's claws, saying it will be excruciatingly painful. He then proceeds to do just that._**

Derek rolls his eyes.

 ** _This is the first time we meet Mrs. Yukimura and learn a bit of the family backstory. They moved to Beacon Hills from New York and Mrs. Yukimura's family has ties to Beacon Hills going back several generations. We learn that Mr. Yukimura took his wife's family name when they married because she was the only surviving member of her line. They explain that they did not keep both names or do a hyphenate because they were married in Japan where the law says a couple must share the same name to belong to the same Koseki or family registry._**

"That's a weird rule" Stiles shrugged.

 ** _Mr. Yukimura says his wife's linage is quite unique. He plans to discuss it in class. Kira says she doesn't want him to do that. Mr. Yukimura says it was a "profound honor" to join his wife's family. Scott begins to choke. Kira asks what happened to his wasabi. Scott says he thought it was guacamole and ate a large mouthful. The Yukimuras quickly begin pouring tea for him as he coughs and sputters._**

"Only you would think that" Stiles sighs and shakes his head.

 ** _In the science classroom at school, Stiles and Lydia find the door to the chemical storage room unlocked and an overwhelming smell of chemicals. Lydia realizes that this smell is why the wolves couldn't catch a scent. They find blood and staples on the floor and realize that Barrow was performing surgery on himself._**

"You know Stiles, you really do have a sharp mind. Ever thought about working for the law?" Rafael asked and Stiles just shrugged, "I'm still in the start of my high school life. I haven't thought of the future".

 ** _They find three atomic numbers on the blackboard - 19 53 88. Lydia supplies the letters that go with the elements, K for Potassium, I for Iodine and Ra for Radium. The numbers spell out Kira._**

"That's a clever way of leaving a message without anyone really noticing" Noah points out. "Wonder if it was Barrow" Rafael asks.

 ** _Derek is inside a dream version of his loft. The Nemeton is there. A large black wolf enters and leaps atop the magic stump. The wolf looks like Talia's animal form. He stares into the wolf's eyes and they turn red. In Kira's room Scott is talking to his mom, catching her up on the events of the night. Before he hangs up, he asks her why she didn't change her name when she and his father divorced. Melissa says she didn't change it back because McCall is Scott's name too. Kira arrives bearing Hawaiian pizza and Pepsi. They sit on her bed eating. Allison's found a few references about flies carrying messages to the dead. Isaac says he's found some references to Beelzebub the "lord of the flies." Allison and Isaac are sitting very close and he moves in for a kiss and she jumps up. She yells at him that he must be crazy if he thinks she would want to kiss him or any other werewolf. Isaac feigns outrage saying he would never want to kiss her either but while yelling at her he removes his shirt. She follows suit and as they are standing shirtless Chris Argent enters and asks to see Allison in his office where he keeps his guns. Then, off screen we hear Chris yell "Another werewolf?"_**

"That was such bad foreplay" Lydia groaned while Chris gave Allison a 'really?' look.

 ** _Derek returns to the real world. Peter is full of questions, "did you see her? What did you ask her? Did she say anything about me?" Derek turns on his uncle with a look of fear and confusion. He then looks like he might throw up. Scott and Kira are saying goodnight on the street in front of her house. Kira says Scott is special not just because he saved her from a coyote but also because he remembered her name. William Barrow runs up behind Scott and hits him in the head with a metal pipe._**

"At least give them the chance to kiss good bye!" Laura shouted.

 ** _Scott comes to with Stiles and Lydia standing over him. They reach Isaac by phone but he has nothing helpful to add except some stuff about flies and the dead. Lydia says she feels like she can use her power but she doesn't know how to trigger it and it makes her want to scream. Stiles suggests that she go ahead and scream. She does and when she stops we hear clearly the electric hum that she's mistaken for flies all day. This leads them to the power substation where Barrow used to work. Inside the substation Kira is tied up on the floor with dirty extension cords while William Barrow rips out one of the large power lines and scrapes is along a chain-link fence as it sprays sparks. Barrow puts the cable down long enough to take Kira's picture with her phone, showing off how well it performs in low light. This bit of product placement is explained as Barrow's desire for photographic proof for "all those people who never believed." He then explains the movie Village of the Damned, the original "not the remake. Nobody cares about crappy remakes."_**

"Well, he isn't wrong" Stiles and Isaac agreed with the man.

 ** _He claims he saw children with glowing eyes and reported it but no one would do anything. Lydia, Stiles and Scott arrive at the substation. Stiles tells Lydia to stay in the car because he only has one bat. Scott spots Kira and runs to her aid despite her warning. Barrow smacks Scott with the live wire sending him flying. While still vibrating from the shock, Scott tries to distract Barrow from Kira saying "she's not the one you want." But, due to the pain from the electricity, he can't make his eyes glow and Barrow ignores him._**

"This could be bad. If electricity can damage wolves extremely, I wonder how royally screwed a kitsune would be" Laura said. "It depends on what the kitsune is" Talia answered. When Laura gave her a questioning look, she just shrugged.

 ** _Turning to Kira he touches her with the wire. Kira glows bright white and Barrow is blown backwards. The glare is blinding. When the light subsides we see Kira is absorbing all the electricity into her hands. The sparks fly towards her as every light in Beacon Hills begins to flicker and eventually goes dark._**

"She can absorb lightning!? Sorry dude but kitsune wins over werewolves" Stiles said and Scott snorted.

 ** _Isaac is in the Argent's apartment when the lights go out. Three shadowy figures surround him. We catch a glimpse of a black Japanese masks. The door slams shut and locks. We hear the sound of furniture breaking and fighting as Chris and Allison try to force their way in, calling Isaac's name._**

"Isn't that the same mask design from the bestiary?" Allison asks. "Yeah" Isaac mutters.


	45. 3-16

**_Neighborhood kids are smashing jack-o-lanterns on Halloween night. Suddenly a skein of five Demon Warriors appears out of the mist. They pass the children by without a glance._**

Chris narrows his eyes at the sight of the demons.

 ** _Isaac lies shaking on the floor in Allison's room. He is freezing. Allison and her father find him and Chris punches him until Isaac's werewolf side triggers and begins the healing process._**

"I have this feeling that the punches were less for my help and more cause I almost made out with his daughter" Isaac muttered to Stiles who snorted.

 ** _As Isaac explains about the Demon Warriors - they wore black, greenish yellow eyes "like a firefly," and came out of the shadows - realization dawns on Chris' face. He asks Isaac and Allison to keep the attack quiet for 24 hours. Chris believes the creatures might have been after him._**

"And why would they be after you dad?" Allison asked curiously.

 ** _He goes to his room and retrieves a wooden box, inside we see one of the Demon's Hannya broken into pieces._**

"That would be a good reason" Stiles points out and Allison sighs.

 ** _Agent McCall attempts to question Stiles, Scott, Lydia, and Kira about the incident at the power plant. A funny scene follows as Stiles continues to one-up Scott's dad while Sheriff Stilinski attempts to hide his amusement._**

"I would have laughed too if it wasn't such a serious time" Rafael chuckled.

 ** _Agent McCall then recounts the events of, adding a one detail that wasn't readily apparent at the time – someone left the message for William Barrow on the blackboard in the chemistry classroom. As the questioning goes nowhere, the Sheriff sums up the situation saying that the kids were in the right place at the right time and Kira is alive because of them. Kira asks for her phone back but Agent McCall takes it as evidence._**

"Why would that be evidence? All he used it for was taking a picture. Plus I think you already have his fingerprints if that was the reason for confiscating the phone" Stiles asks. "He might have called whoever sent him after Kira. Just being cautious" Rafael said with a small smile.

 ** _Agent McCall confronts his son saying that he doesn't know why they are lying. He warns Scott that someone was not only helping Barrow but was controlling him which, he says, is far worse than a mass murderer on his own._**

"I can't not agree with that" Noah sighs.

 ** _In her room, Kira lights a candle. She then takes a selfie in the mirror. The image shows she is surrounded by, what appear to be, flames._**

"That is so cool! Why do kitsunes glow like that while in picture when wolves just get a bad glare" Laur sighed out loud.

 ** _The power is still out the next day at Beacon Hills High School. Class is still in session though as Coach Finstock reminds everyone via bullhorn. Stiles knocks his keys from his locker onto the floor. We can see he has a green aluminum bottle opener as a key chain. He notices one specific key, staring at it until Scott arrives. He stops Scott from walking right up to Kira suggesting that he steer clear until they know that she isn't "another psychotic monster that's going to start murdering everybody."_**

"I think it's safe to say that she isn't like that" Lydia points out. Stiles shrugged, "Our hot English teacher turned put to be a psychopath" he said. Lydia was about to say something when she stopped and thought about what e said and sighed.

 ** _Scott wonders if Kira might be like him in a supernatural sense, Stiles reminds him of her trick with the electricity saying she's definitely not like Scott. Stiles again seems perplexed by that key on his ring._**

"It's justa key dude" Isaac says. "A key that popped out of nowhere" Stiles added with an eye roll.

 ** _In the locker room, Danny is on his cellphone. Apparently the power outage means the Halloween blacklight party he'd planned will have to be cancelled. Ethan overhears and asks him if he needs help finding a new venue. Danny says no place in town has power so the party is canceled. Aiden makes fun of his brother's attempt to engage Danny but Ethan points out that Scott doesn't care about power, he cares about people. He goes on to explain that if they ever want to be a part of Scott's wolf pack then they need to start by acting like humans at school._**

"That's a good start" Scott shrugged.

 ** _Lydia's Mom is substitute teaching for the recently deceased Adrian Harris. She jokes with Lydia that since she's not been in front of a classroom in 5 years she would really appreciate it if her daughter wouldn't embarrass her. Lydia quips back that her mother should have thought of that before wearing "those shoes."_**

Lydia snorts, "as if I can embarrass her". "You could with your sudden shouting and weird ass Banshee mumbo jumbo" Stiles points out and she glares at him.

 ** _Later, as Aiden is trying to flirt with Lydia, she is obviously uncomfortable. She explains that she helped save a person's life and feels good about that. She says when she looks at Aiden all she can think about is that he helped kill Boyd and that doesn't just make him a "bad boy" it makes him a "bad guy" and she doesn't want to be with the bad guys. This prompts Aiden to approach Danny and offer him a place for the party._**

"And Aiden comes in line now as well" Scott smiles.

 ** _Derek Hale leaves his loft for unknown reasons._**

"Don't tell me" Derek groans.

 ** _Kira is eating lunch by herself in a school hallway. Scott joins her on the floor. Kira immediately says she doesn't "want to talk about it" but when Scott starts to talk about a pre-calculus test on "Friday" instead, she asks him to take a picture of her so she can show him the effects flash photography has on her face. The picture shows the flames outlining her body. She explains that the strange happenings started a "couple of months" ago and she doesn't know what causes it. She says she has to get hold of her phone to erase the pictures Barrow snapped at the substation. Scott immediately volunteers to help._**

"Of course he would" Melissa rolled her eyes.

 ** _Derek returns to the parking lot right outside his apartment later that night. He is ambushed by three trick-or-treaters, a devil, a pirate and a vampire. The kids are on edge as Derek slowly reaches into his SUV and pulls out a large variety bag of M &M/Mars fun sized candy. He drops a piece in each kid's bag. They stand staring at him until he flashes his eyes and, with a roar, bares his fangs. The display sends them screaming into the night._**

"Do you have to be like that to children?" Stiles asked with a sigh and Derek just shrugs. "Too much candy is bad for them" was all he said.

 ** _As Derek turns back to the SUV he is surrounded by the five Demon Warriors._**

"Get ready for a beating Derek" Isaac said. "I can handle them" he huffs a growl.

 ** _Aiden and Ethan set up a gas powered generator outside Derek's big loft window. The power comes on and they test the black light fixture they attached to one of the support the Sheriff's Station, Stiles is waiting in his jeep when Kira and Scott arrive on his dirt bike. Stiles has key cards that will give them access to the station and several of the offices inside, including the evidence room. He explains that he cloned the cards using an RFID emulator._**

"We are going to have a long chat after this young man" Noah said through gritted teeth while Claudia giggled.

 ** _He points out that, since his father is already under investigation by the FBI, he can't help them if they get caught & will run at the sight of any official or officer. Kira is worried that Scott told Stiles why she wanted the phone. Scott says he said there were pictures she didn't want anyone to see, naked pictures of herself. Kira is cool with this explanation saying it was a "good idea."_**

"Oh my God we have a female Scott" Allison mumbled.

 ** _Inside they find Kira's phone but it is dead and with no power there is no obvious way to charge it. She wants to just take the phone but Scott knows that would cause more trouble for everyone. He then notices a laptop on the desk. Kira finds a charging cable in a desk drawer and they turn on the computer to charge the phone from its battery. When the computer screen flicks on, there is a picture of Scott as a very young child with his father, Agent McCall. He realizes that this is his father's laptop and has a little moment of wistfulness as he remembers that period of his life._**

Rafael sighs and looked at his son who was holding his girlfriend close to him, a wistful look on his face.

 ** _Stiles is still fascinated by the extra key on his key ring. Meanwhile, Kira's phone takes forever to get enough charge to start. Agent McCall pulls up outside and Stiles, unable to get Scott on his phone, runs inside to head him off. He stops Scott's dad, attempting to stall him outside the evidence room with the somewhat obvious theory that whoever left the message for Barrow in the chemistry classroom may be someone at the school._**

"And here I thought you were going to bail on us" Scott smirked. "As if" Stiles snorted.

 ** _Kira's phone finally charges. McCall says it's a good theory and one they are already pursuing. Turns out, Stiles' father was the one who came up with it. The agent calls it "his one useful suggestion." Stiles gets in McCall's face. He says that the attitude the agent has toward Sheriff Stilinski may be all dressed up in "professional disapproval" but Stiles knows the real reason McCall doesn't like his father. It's because "he knows something that you don't want him to know." The agent tries to shake off the revelation but Stiles continues "and guess what. I know it too."_**

"That should give them enough time" Noah sighs.

 ** _Kira and Scott have escaped undetected. She seems very excited about the adventure. Scott invites Kira to the black light party. & she gladly agrees. Isaac opens the door to Derek's Loft revealing a group of scantily clad, glow-in-the-dark teens dancing to The Bloody Beetroots. He turns to Allison and says "Derek can never know about this."_**

"I already do" Derek growled through gritted teeth. "Oh loosen up brother" Laura laughed and slapped him on the back.

 ** _Ethan is sure to remind Danny that he is responsible for pulling the party together. He then rips Danny's shirt off to facilitate glow-in-the-dark body painting. Someone calls that they've run out of ice and Ethan leaves to find some more. While the artist paints Danny, Demon Warriors begin to appear behind him. Catching a glimpse in his peripheral vision, he turns but the figure is gone._**

"I wonder who is next. Maybe its Aiden or Ethan" Stiles mumbled. "What makes you say that? It could be someone else" Lydia pointed out. "Well for one, they are after werewolves, or at least supernatural things as they went after Derek after Isaac. So I think it could be one of the twins" Stiles explains. "That makes sense actually" Peter said and Stiles rolled his eyes.

 ** _Ethan enters a storeroom to grab some ice. The incandescent light bulb flickers and goes out. He twists the bulb and it comes back on briefly but goes out again. This happens a few times until the Demon Warriors appear and surround him._**

"Called it" Stiles said with a smirk.

 ** _Stiles, Scott, and Kira arrive at the party. Stiles is now obsessing about the key, explaining to Scott that he's asked his father if he put it there but he says he didn't. Stiles knows it is not his key. Scott is prepared to leave the party until they figure out the mystery of the key but, at that moment, Caitlin walks up to Stiles and kisses him. The smooch leaves a glowing orange lip-print on his cheek. Stiles now does not want to leave the party and goes off in pursuit of Caitlin._**

"Well that's a good way to keep him calm" Scott laughed with Allison and Isaac while Laura was shooting sly looks at a blushing Stiles. Lydia though was quiet and did not look up from her hands on her lap.

 ** _Kira gets jostled by the crowd. Scott takes her hand and pulls her close to him. Then he spots Allison standing at the bar. Kira sees him see her and releases his hand and backs away into the crowd._**

"Aw" Allison sighed. She knew that he two had broken up and Scott showed obvious liking to the fox girl and the feeling was returned. She felt bad for Kira who was actually looking for something with Scott here and if she was honest with herself, Allison would want Scott to look for happiness if they ever broke up like in this version of the future.

 ** _Scott and Allison exchange half-smiles, an acknowledgement that what they had is over. Scott realizes that he's lost Kira and begins to scan the room with his enhanced werewolf vision. When he spots her he sees the outline of a fox in the flames surrounding her entire body._**

"Guess you both moved on" Stiles mumbled. Allison nodded, feeling sad at the fact that it was really all over when Scott pulled her close. "I know that we break up in the future. I think it was because of all these secrets we had and now that you know everything, I hope we could stay strong in our future" Scott smiled. Allison wanted to point out that they were seeing their future but the part of her which loved Scott wanted to believe that it would be possible. She smiled and cuddled into Scott's side.

 ** _Stiles catches up to Caitlin and after some chit chat, realizes her connection to the Darach sacrifices, her girlfriend was one of the virgins killed. Caitlin seems unfazed by girlfriend's death, says she's really drunk and takes Stiles to the dance floor. Aiden runs up to Lydia wearing a set of bright orange false fangs. He growls at her. She is not amused. He says they're not as good as the real ones. Lydia counters that they're also not as "lethal." Aiden says he deserves everything Lydia says about him but adds that he helped set up the party as if that should earn him a bit of redemption. Lydia is unimpressed and says if she'd wanted to go to a rave she would get in a time machine and go back to the 90s. She walks away. Aiden is angry, showing his real fangs and glowing eyes._**

"Patience young wolf" Peter said wisely and Talia snorted. "Look who's talking" Peter glared at his sister.

 ** _Allison rejoins Isaac. He wants to tell Scott about the Demon Warrior attack but Allison says they promised to keep quiet to protect her father. Isaac says he doesn't like keeping secrets from Scott. Allison parlays this into a discussion of their relationship and "whatever we are." Isaac thinks Allison is mad but she says she's not – she's frustrated. He asks if she's "sexually" frustrated. She doesn't answer, just smiles, grabs a paintbrush and removes her shirt. Her bra glows pink in the black light. She challenges him to "talk about Scott" or "paint my body." He chooses the latter._**

"Of course he would" Stiles rolled his eyes while Isaac tried to hide the look of pleasure on his face.

 ** _Lydia stands alone and sums up the party with a series of "ly" words. Seeing Isaac and Allison she says "Finally." Stiles is dancing all crazy which earns him an "Awkwardly." She then notices Aiden sandwiched between two grinding girls and says "Predictably."_**

"Don't worry Lydia, you'll start having your fun here" Allison giggled.

 ** _Lydia hears something, a light growling and popping sound. She scans the party but sees nothing at first. Then the Demon Warriors begin to flicker in and out of existence. She calls out for Scott but can't be heard over the loud music. She makes her way outside onto a wide patio-like ledge beyond the loft's giant window. There she catches her breath. The popping sound returns and one of the Demon Warriors rises up through the concrete. She turns to scream but another warrior is there and snatches the sound from her mouth with his hand. It then places a hand on the left side of her face and its eyes begin to glow._**

"Not the fun I had planned" Lydia mumbled to herself.

 ** _Danny mistakes Aiden for his brother. Both are looking for Ethan because he's been missing for a "half an hour." Aiden goes off on his own looking worried. Danny follows. Caitlin retrieves two bottled beers and returns to Stiles on the spiral staircase. When Stiles removes his key chain to use the bottle opener, Caitlin notices that one of his keys, THE KEY, is covered with phosphors. Caitlin wants to make out. She says she likes girls and boys and asks if Stiles likes boys too. He doesn't answer and looks uncomfortable._**

"Is little Stiles secretly into guys too?" Lydia teases. Stiles looks at her with a straight face, "Are you into girls?" he counters. "No" she said with a raised eyebrow. "There. You have my answer too" Stiles smirks.

 ** _He is obsessed by the mystery key and keeps interrupting their kissing with questions. When Caitlin explains that the phosphors might have come from being around chemicals, Stiles jumps up to leave. Before he goes he gives Caitlin a full bottle of water and tells her to "drink that whole thing."_**

"At least you didn't leave her dehydrated" Isaac chuckled.

 ** _Kira and Scott are up on the roof, just above the loft's skylight. Scott has paint on his face and when he can't get it himself Kira "moms" him. That is, she licks her thumb and uses it to wipe the paint from his face. They laugh about the "momming" before turning to more serious matters. Kira is surprised that Scott didn't run away screaming when he saw her picture. She says the flames look like a "demon from hell" to her. Scott says he saw something different, like armor protecting her. He says it looks like a fox._**

"Nice foreshadowing Scotty" Stiles grinned.

 ** _Allison and Isaac dance and come close to kissing but don't because Allison notices something on his neck. They rush to the mirror in the storeroom and discover what looks to be a backwards number 5 branded into Isaac's neck. They hear Ethan groaning and Isaac breaks his arm to trigger his werewolf healing. Ethan's eyes flash blue and Allison notices he has the same mark on his neck._**

"The demon men left hickeys?" Laura asked with a raised eyebrow while the rest snorted.

 ** _Outside the giant window, Danny finds Lydia, barely conscious and shivering, he calls to Aiden for help. Danny says Lydia is practically "hypothermic." They carry her inside and place her beside a heating vent. Danny goes to look for a blanket and Lydia tells Aiden that "they came out of the dark." Derek awakes on the pavement below. He jumps to his feet and growls in anger. High up on the roof, Scott hears the growl and recognizes that it is Derek._**

"I can never get used to this super hearing thing" Scott mumbled. "You look quite used to it there" Allison mutters to him to which he shrugged.

 ** _Inside the party, Derek approaches the DJ table. A bouncer attempts to stop him but Derek tosses him aside and overturns the table. The music stops. He drops his voice into the "werewolf range" and bellows "Get out!" After a brief moment of disbelief, the crowd runs for the exits._**

"Party pooper!" The teens and Laura said in unison while Derek scowled.

 ** _Aiden sends Danny away with Lydia. The other wolves all converge on the loft where the Demon Warriors stand waiting. The warriors all turn as one toward Aiden. Scott and Derek try to intercede. Derek even breaks one's neck but it recovers and the wolves are beaten back. Isaac steps up to help but the warrior he faces pulls a sword from inside his body and spins it around like a pro – Isaac backs off._**

"Really?" Stiles looks at Isaac. Isaac shrugged, "I don't want to become mincemeat".

 ** _The warriors make it to Aiden and brand him like the others. Then they come after Scott. He bears his teeth and his red eyes, showing Kira his true face. But, when the first rays of the rising sun strike them, they disappear into black smoke. Chris Argent stumbles into his apartment badly injured and collapses on the floor. His phone is ringing, it's Allison._**

"What the hell were you up to!?" Melissa asked with a raised eyebrow and a worried look in her eyes. Chris just shrugged.

 ** _At School, Stiles finds THE KEY fits the chemical storage room where Barrow hid and performed surgery on himself. Stiles makes his way to the blackboard where the numbers and their chemical counterparts still spell K I Ra. He grabs a piece of chalk and writes the same numbers on the board. The handwriting is almost identical to the original._**

"I wrote that!?" Stiles asked in shock.


	46. 3-17

"I'm sure that it can be explained and you are not the one sending people out to kill" Noah said and put a hand on his son's shoulder. Stiles frowned, he disagreed but said nothing as the next episode started.

 ** _Chris Argent tells a story from when he was 18._**

"oooh story time" Laura said excitedly.

 ** _Gerard had sent Young Chris Argent to do an arms deal without telling him that the customers were Yakuza, Japanese organized crime syndicate._**

"He even dealt with the Yakuza? Man he keeps going down my like list" Stiles mumbled.

 ** _In the middle of the deal, a group of Oni attacked the Yakuza leader (the kumichō). They cut down all of his men who tried to protect him eventually impaling him on their Ninjatō (straight swords). Chris survived and saved the life of a man called Silverfinger by shooting one of the Oni directly in the face, shattering its mask and revealing that there was nothing but darkness behind its "face." He believes Silverfinger, who got his name from the silver prosthetic pinkie he wears, will be able to tell them about the warriors._**

"What the hell are these things and how do we kill something that had nothing but darkness" Scott asked, a bit scared. No one had any answer to that so no one spoke.

 ** _Scott takes Kira home on his bike. She asks him if all his friends are werewolves then asks to see his werewolf face. He obliges and she touches the enhanced ridges of his forehead, his cheek, and his lips. Later, as Scott is riding his dirt bike to school, the twins Ethan and Aiden ride up and flank him. Scott races ahead but the twins easily keep up. Once they get to school the twins explain that they are planning to stick by Scott all day and all night to protect him from the "Demonic Ninjas." Scott suspects their interest in him has more to do with wanting to join his pack than a genuine desire to keep him safe._**

"It works both ways buddy" Peter smirked.

 ** _He asks for some privacy while he brings Stiles up to speed on the events of the night before. He warns the twins not to listen in with "wolf hearing" implying that his status as a "True Alpha" gives him powers of which the twins are unaware. He seems to be making this up. In the Chemistry classroom, Stiles is alarmed to find that the writing on the chalkboard is gone as is the extra key from his ring._**

"The key can't just be gone! And by my face I can say that it wasn't me who moved it" Stiles said tensely.

 ** _He confesses to Scott that he believes he allowed William Barrow into the Chemistry closet and then wrote a message to the killer on the chalkboard. Stiles has found an old story about Barrow's attack on the school bus. The killer apparently packed nuts, bolts, and screws along with the bomb in a box wrapped as a birthday present. Stiles sees a similarity between this and the prank he and Scott pulled on Coach Finstock on Mischief Night. Stiles says it was his idea to do the box thing. Scott says he doesn't believe that Stiles is trying to kill people. Scott says Stiles looks tired and needs to take a sick day._**

"I believe it's just a coincidence and yes you do need sleep" Noah said the last bit with a worried look at the screen.

 ** _Scott rejoins the twins and speculates that he may not be the Oni's target. He looks to Kira down the hallway. Katashi is now a paranoid recluse but Chris has a rare weapon, a French flintlock turn-over pistol from 1645, which Katashi will want to buy. He plans to use it as a distraction to get to the paranoid Yakuza to talk. Talking on the phone as he walks through the Sheriff's Station, Agent McCall says he's just a week or two away from a formal review of the evidence against Sheriff Stilinski. He says he has enough to make sure the Sheriff can't get hired at any level of government. When he opens his laptop, a security warning pops up – when Scott and Kira broke into his office to erase her phone they triggered some sort of automatic webcam leaving a snapshot of them on the screen._**

"Busted" Stiles teased with a smirk.

 ** _Stiles is at the hospital. Melissa McCall explains that "Dr. Gardner isn't back until next week" then says Stiles can see one of the hospital's urgent care doctors. Stiles panics. Seeing his distress, Melissa takes him to an exam room. He explains the anxiety and panic attacks, sleeplessness, sleepwalking (which he says he also suffered as a kid) and blackouts. He says his Adderall isn't working and he is feeling irritable to the point of homicide with vivid dreams during the day. Melissa gives him Midazolam - a common drug used to relax patients before surgery. She says he is "profoundly sleep deprived." As he is dozing off, he calls Melissa "Mom."_**

Claudia smiled sadly at the scene. She hugged Stiles as tight as she could. Stiles surprised at first returned the hug.

 ** _Silverfinger will not meet in person to purchase the weapon. Chris comes up with a plan to have Isaac pose as the seller while he and Allison search the location of the buy for Silverfinger._**

"Hah! Bad plan" Stiles called out. " hate to say this, but Stiles is right" Isaac grumbled.

 ** _Isaac is unsure he can pull it off saying the suit and tie Chris gave him to wear makes him look like he "just stepped out of the last period of a Catholic prep school" he is nervous until Allison takes him aside, kisses him and places his hand on her buttocks. Filled with confidence, Isaac walks into the buy._**

"So a butt touch is all you need to fill yourself with confidence?" Laura raised an eyebrow. "And a kiss" Isaac grinned.

 ** _Wanting to ditch the twins in order to keep them out of harm's way, Scott steals spark plugs from their motorcycles. They are left behind as he rides off with Kira. Silverfinger's henchman is a werewolf too. He offers $100 thousand dollars for pistol. Stalling for time, Isaac says he has to count the money and pulls out an automatic counting machine. At his house, Scott rushes around closing and locking all the windows. He explains that Dr. Deaton has installed supernatural security system in the McCall house but that his mom has to arm it._**

"Supernatural security system" Laura snorts.

 ** _Kira has figured out that Scott thinks she might be the target of the Oni and that he brought her to his house to protect her. At the hospital, Melissa takes Stiles chart and compares it to one from another patient who died in 2004. The symptoms, "Hallucinations, Impulsivity, Irritable, and Insomnia" as well as vivid daytime dreaming and an inability to distinguish dreams from reality match on both charts. The old chart belongs to Stiles' mother, Claudia Stilinski._**

"Both the Stilinski couple's eyes widened, as did Scott's. Stiles though was oddly silent.

 ** _Allison and Chris systematically take out all of Silverfinger's men. Isaac continues kills time by telling the story of the pistol. It was a gift from Louis XIV of France to a prominent family. It has only ever been fired once during a duel between brothers on the grounds of the Palace of Versailles. The henchman hands over a case with $150 thousand. Isaac, still killing time, says he'll have to count the money and brings out an automatic counting machine. Kira sits on Scott's bed and she explains a bit about the Kitsune myth. She pulls out a children's book called "Japanese Mythology: Creatures, Spirits and Demons" and shows him pictures of the fox. Scott draws a parallel between a picture of a multi-tailed fox surrounded by lightning and Kira's handling of the electricity at the substation. Kira says it's called "foxfire" and that kitsune can produce it by rubbing their tails together. She's quick to add that she has no tails. Scott is amazed that she knew what he was thinking – she jokes that kitsune can also read minds._**

"Fox fire sounds cool" Isaac mumbled.

 ** _They realize the sun is setting and Kira says she needs to be home before dinner. Scott says she should tell her parents that she can't make it because she's going on a date. She then questions if a relationship is a good idea since "foxes and wolves don't get along." She shows him a picture of the kitsune surrouned by wolves. Scott brushes it aside saying it's just a drawing in a children's book. He hears a car pull up outside and thinks it is his mom. Kira and Scott go into the kitchen but it is Agent McCall who greets them. Scott is shocked, first asking what he's doing there and then wondering why he still has a key. His father turns it around on him saying that he still has a key to the house but he doesn't think Scott has a key to his office. He shows them the laptop webcam photo. The werewolf henchman stops Isaac from counting the money. He tells the true story of the pistol. Apparently a Frenchman used it to kill his brother after the sibling became a werewolf. His story references a "family code" which implies the pistol belonged to a family of werewolf hunters._**

"Of course" Stiles rolled his eyes, as did Allison and Lydia.

 ** _He jerks Isaac's arm back and the younger man goes all fangs and glowing eyes at him. Silverfinger is watching surveillance feeds from several parts of the warehouse complex. He sees the confrontation with Isaac then swipes the screen and sees Allison and then Chris take out his guards. Silverfinger pulls a gun as Chris enters. Allison disarms him with a whip chain. The werewolf henchman drags Isaac into the room. Agent McCall is demanding an answer but Scott is belligerent telling him to leave and come back with a warrant. When McCall tries to be "tough dad," Scott calls him a "gene donor" saying he got his hair color from the man but nothing else. Melissa arrives just as the sun sets._**

"Ouch" Peter winced. Rafael looked down sadly. "Guess he really has no love for me anymore" he thought with a sigh.

 ** _A Demon Warrior appears in the living room. Agent McCall approaches it and is promptly stabbed through the left shoulder. Melissa pulls him to a secluded corner as Derek bursts in and starts fighting the Oni. The twins bust through a window together._**

"You better get those fixed" Melissa muttered.

 ** _The werewolves manage to eject the warriors from the house and Melissa drops a jar of Mountain Ash across the threshold. It forms a perfect line which completes the security barrier Deaton established at the house. The Demons cannot get past. Kira reaches up and touches the screen door. It repels her hand with a flash of light indicating that she too is supernatural. After reminding Silverfinger of their meeting 24 years prior, the old man explains that the warriors are Oni, they are demons and are unstoppable._**

"Good news" Lydia groaned.

 ** _At the McCall house, Derek is impressed with the security pointing out that all the baseboards must be ash wood. He then admits that he's been following Scott all day. Melissa says her ex-husband's wound is bad. He mumbles something about calling for backup as she is applying pressure. She says that by the way his arm is rotated, the tendon looks torn and that could lead to a collapsed lung. Melissa says, demons or no demons, he is bleeding out and needs a hospital. Silverfinger explains that no man-made weapon can harm the Oni. He says they are a force of nature like a tsunami. "You don't fight a tsunami," he says, "you endure it and you hope you are not destroyed in its path."_**

"Seriously dude, give us some good news!" Stiles groaned.

 ** _He explains that the mark on Isaac's neck is the Japanese symbol (or Kanji) for self. It means he is still himself. The Oni are looking for someone who is no longer themselves. Someone possessed by a dark spirit. Aiden aggressively questions Kira about her supernatural nature. He forces her hand against the screen to show that she too cannot cross the mountain ash barrier. Derek steps in and says it's obvious that she is a Kitsune. He explains that the young ones have an aura that they haven't learned to conceal yet. Derek says she probably doesn't know what kind of kitsune she is either._**

"Aww Derek th friendly know it all wolf" Laura said with a pokeon his cheek. Derek just looked at her from the corner of his eyes and growled.

 ** _Silverfinger says there are 13 varieties of kitsune. He names four – Celestial, Wild, Ocean, and Thunder then explains about the "dark Kitsune". He says "They call it Void or Nogitsune" he explains that they possess a host and draw power from pain and tragedy, strife and chaos. The Oni seek out the Nogitsune. Scott is convinced that Kira is not the target of the Oni. She is not so sure saying that the kitsune is a trickster spirit and could be tricking him. Scott says he's seen the bad guys and Kira is not one of them._**

"Scott the bad guy detector sounds good" Stiles mumbled loudly with a smirk towards a groaning Scott.

 ** _Aiden tries to explain that he wasn't going to hurt Kira when he forced her to touch the barrier. Aiden says they are there to protect Scott. Ethan adds that they are there to fight for him. Derek is unimpressed saying that while he is sure the twins would kill for Scott, he's not sure they would die for him._**

"Now that is a valid point" Laura said.

 ** _Silverfinger explains why he's missing the joints of his little finger. Yakuza perform a ritual where they offer the mutilation of the little finger as penance for a mistake. He says if Chris hadn't shot the Oni when he did, Silverfinger would have fled and would have been humiliated to the point of having to give up his head. He says he owes Argent his honor. He urges them not to try stop the Oni, to let them do their work. The Demon Warriors begin pounding against the barrier looking for weaknesses. They begin to see results forcing their way through. Agent McCall, sensing that he is dying, wants to speak to Scott. He says Melissa knows why he came back. Melissa says his timing sucks and that she won't let him talk to their son now because they're going to get him to a hospital and he's going to be fine. Allison calls Scott and gives him the lowdown on all they learned from Silverfinger. She says they realize Scott is supernatural and that they will move on once they make sure he's not the dark spirit. As the demons burst through the barrier, Scott tells everyone to do nothing. They question this order but follow it. The Oni reach for Scott and Kira, stare at them with their glowing eyes and brand each before letting them drop to the floor. Then they disappear._**

"Well that went well" Scott and Allison sighed in unison before smiling at each other.

 ** _Stiles wakes up in the hospital. He wanders down the hall and into one of the surgery suites. There, he is confronted by the Oni. He lets one get close but as it reaches up to touch his neck, Stiles grabs it's hand. He then thrusts his hand into its chest and pulls out a firefly. The Oni turns to smoke and disappears._**

"Okay dude how did you do that!?" Isaac asked in shock. "I-I don't know" Stiles mumbled wide eyed.

 ** _Scott's dad is wheeled into emergency. Scott heads off to find Stiles. Stiles seems normal as he and Scott leave together but on the floor a firefly buzzes. Its light goes out and it first crumbles to dust then blows away in a puff of black smoke._**

"I have a very bad feeling about what just happened" Lydia mumbled and hoped that it wasn't her Banshee senses, even though they were yet to be unlocked.


	47. 3-18

**_Scott's phone is vibrating. He wakes, sees it is Stiles and answers immediately. There's static on the line but then Stiles' voice comes through in a whisper. Stiles explains in a frightened voice that he doesn't know where he is or how he came to be there. He thinks he was sleepwalking._**

"Was it you though?" Isaac asked. "What do you mean?" Stiles asks back with a raised eyebrow. "Well last episode, you punctured a demon chest. I'm pretty sure you can't do it. So maybe you aren't you there anymore and someone is in control. So my question is, was it you? Or was it whatever is in control of you?" he explained and asked the last part seriously. Stiles looks from Isaac to Scott and then to his feet, what Isaac said made sense to him and now he too was in thought about it. "Let's watch and see" Lydia said seeing no one was about to reply. Isaac nodded and looked back at the screen while Stiles was still in deep thought.

 ** _Scott begins questioning him about his surroundings but Stiles says it's dark and then the connection is broken. Increasingly agitated, Scott calls back twice but gets voice mail both times. Then his phone buzzes again. Stiles says he can't get out of wherever he is because he can't move, his leg is stuck on something and he thinks it's bleeding._**

"This sounds very very very bad" Scott mumbled. "No shit Sherlock" Lydia rolled her eyes and leaned forward, worry clear on her face.

 ** _Stiles describes a smell "down here" and says it's brutal and his eyes are watering. A panicked Scott wants to call Sheriff Stilinski but Stiles, near tears, begs him not to call. He says his father worries about him too much already. Stiles insists that Scott come and find him without letting his father know._**

"Worrying about you is my job Stiles. If anything like this ever happens, you have to call me. Understood?" Noah asked his son. Stiles who was still deep in thought, heard nothing and was still looking at his feet. He was snapped out of his thoughts when he felt a gentle hand on his shoulder. He looked to his side to see that both his parents were looking at him with worry and from the looks on his father's face, he looked to be waiting for an answer. Stiles just nodded without thought and Noah relaxed a lttle.

 ** _Stiles then turns off the phone. Scott shouts for Isaac to wake up. Sleep addled, Isaac comes into the bedroom. Scott tells him to get dressed to help Stiles. Isaac asks "what's wrong with Stiles?" Scott says he doesn't know. Lydia is sketching Aiden in the Beacon Hills High School Arts Classroom after hours. Aiden wonders if they will get in trouble if security finds them. Lydia scoffs saying due to the high homicide rate at the school no one will take a night job there. Aiden, realizing they are alone and unlikely to be disturbed, begins to flirt, taking his shirt off. Lydia says nude modeling is usually "done without the pants."_**

"So not the time here!" Laura groaned and Lydia nodded a bit scarlet faced.

 ** _Aiden promptly removes his pants but before he can remove his underwear, Lydia hears voices coming out of the Bluetooth Speaker. Aiden still hears music playing but Lydia hears Stiles' voice saying "come find me."_**

"Thank you Banshee hearing" Lydia muttered.

 ** _Stiles calls Scott's phone again. He first asks if Scott called his father, then, with Scott's prompting, he describes his surroundings. He says he's in an industrial basement with a furnace and that it is freezing cold "down here." He then says he has to turn the phone off because it is about to die. Scott asks him why he is whispering. He responds "because I think there's someone in here with me."_**

Stiles squinted his eyes. By the tone of his voice, he could tell that it was 'him' speaking and not someone else. But there was something off about it all.

 ** _Kira is on her bed studying. She reaches to turn on a table lamp but the bulb is out. She calls to her mother that the lamp is "dead." She then removes the shade and reaches to remove the burned out bulb but as her fingers brush the glass of the incandescent bulb it relights briefly. She jerks her hand back but then tries it again more slowly. Small bolts of electricity come from each of her fingers and the bulb lights fully before exploding. Mrs. Yukimura enters and seems angry wanting to know what Kira did to break the bulb. She then barks that Kira should be asleep. As her mom screws in a new light bulb Kira notices that her mom's fingers also briefly glow with electricity._**

"So mommy is foxy too huh" Isaac smirked before scowling at a snickering Laura, "that is not what I meant!" he muttered and Laura burst into laughter.

 ** _Scott and Isaac burst into Stiles' bedroom. Lydia and Aiden are already there. Stiles "murder wall" has changed. Pictures and articles cover almost all the walls and the red threads (unsolved cases) stretch away from the walls and are all tied to the handles of a pair of scissors which is stabbed into the center of Stiles' mattress. The overall impression is that of a spider's web radiating out from the center of Stiles' bed. Aiden posits that Stiles thinks he is part of an unsolved case. Issac thinks it's more direct saying Stiles believes he "is an unsolved case."_**

"I say he is a nut case" Peter said. "Coming from you? I'd say that I'm very normal" Stiles snorted.

 ** _Scott and Isaac catch the other two up on Stiles' description of his surroundings and his injuries. Aiden points out that it is to be the "coldest night of the year" with temperatures "in the 20s (F)" and that Stiles' jeep is gone suggesting he was more than just sleepwalking._**

"The Stilinski couple grew more worried the more they heard of the current situations. They held on to each other hoping that their son would be returned safe;y.

 ** _Lydia manages to convince Scott to tell Sheriff Stilinski and he and Isaac head off to the Sheriff's Station while Lydia insists on staying behind because there's "something here." On a concrete floor, Stiles is shivering and fumbling with his phone. He turns on the flashlight app and shines it down toward his foot. He is wearing pajama bottoms and his left foot appears to be caught in the jaws of a large trap. His leg is bleeding from the calf where the metal jaws of the trap connect with his leg. He cries out in pain._**

Claudia flinches at the sound Stiles had made and tried to hold in a whimper.

 ** _Stiles hears someone else in the room and speaks to them aloud. He gets no response. As he shines the light around the room we see there are metal beams supporting the roof and on the opposite wall sits a large industrial boiler. Behind this we see what appears to be man in a leather bomber jacket squatting with his back to Stiles. There is a scraping sound and the man, with heavily bandaged fingers, drops a piece of chalk which rolls along the concrete floor. Stiles follows the chalk with the light and when he raises it again, the figure is gone. On the wall is a chalk-drawn backwards number 5. It is the Japanese Kanji for "self" which Stiles recognizes after hearing about the events in Silverfinger._**

"That same damn symbol?" Stiles mutters in confusion.

 ** _As Stiles speaks the word "self" aloud, a breeze flows through the room, rustling the leaves on the floor and turning the backwards five into a cloud of chalk dust that vanishes as if it was never there at all. Sheriff Stilinski tries to maintain his calm but he is shaking. He begins barking orders which helps him focus. Scott and Isaac are standing by as are two deputies (Parrish and Cordova). The sheriff orders an APB on a "blue 1980 CJ5 Jeep" and demands a list of all the industrial basements or sub-levels of any building Stiles might have accessed while sleepwalking. He also points out that it is the "coldest night of the year so far" and says if Stiles is still out there barefoot in just a t-shirt he could already be hypothermic._**

"He is okay" Noah told himself as he tightened the grip on his wife's hand, trying to keep himself calm.

 ** _He then takes Scott and Isaac aside asking if there is anything they need to tell him that he can't tell the deputies. Scott says Lydia knew he was missing and is trying to help find him. He's also called Derek and Allison._**

"Good to know you made some good friends Derek" Talia smiled at her son whose lips seem to bit curved up slightly.

 ** _Parrish enters and says they've found Stiles' Jeep. It's at the hospital with a dead battery. They suppose Stiles left the headlights on when he parked. Inside, Melissa McCall has security guards searching every floor. The Sheriff and Melissa head for the basement. Scott and Isaac check the roof where they find Derek. Derek says Stiles isn't anywhere in the hospital anymore. Isaac leaves to tell the sheriff and to find Allison who is not answering her phone. Scott remains with Derek who explains that scents can carry emotional messages, so called "Chemosignals" and Scott can smell that Stiles' scent is full of stress. Derek says he was struggling with himself on the roof._**

"Could he still be dreaming then?" Rafael asked Melissa who nodded slightly, "there is a chance" she muttered.

 ** _At the Sheriff's Station, Agent McCall is wondering where everyone went. He asks Deputy Parish if maybe there's been a break in the case of the sword wielding maniac that stabbed him through the shoulder. Parrish indicates two "Wanted" posters, one depicting a cartoon samurai and the other showing a cartoon Zorro and says "we've got posters up all over town of your guy."_**

"That's funny" Rafael said with a not so fun face.

 ** _McCall doesn't take kindly to the joke saying the cartoons are not exactly how he described his assailant to the sketch artist. Parrish retorts that McCall isn't their highest priority of the night. Genuinely curious, McCall wants to know what the high priority might be. At Stiles' house, Aiden is snooping among the items on Stiles desk. He finds a photo Stiles and Scott from Lacrosse season and then one of the Nemeton drawings that Lydia was doing during the Darach killings. He says the fact that Stiles framed the image suggests that he really likes Lydia._**

"Nothing new there" Isaac said.

 ** _Lydia gets a text from Scott updating her on their search of the hospital. Derek is heading off to the School while Isaac looks for Allison. Aiden idly plucks at one of the red strings connected to Stiles' scissor-stabbed bed. As the string twangs with tension, Lydia hears whispering voices. She repeats the process and says the voices are saying something about a house. They find a picture attached to the red thread of a mental health center called Eichen House. This was the facility where William Barrow was committed after his attack on the school bus. Lydia is convinced that they will find Stiles there. Stiles struggles with the metal trap that pins his left leg. He sees a shadow move across his field of vision and screams "Who are you!" A raspy male voice begins speaking in Japanese. Stiles doesn't understand. We catch a glimpse of the figure. It is wearing a brown bomber jacket with what appear to be military patches on the sleeves. Its head is fully covered in bandages as are its hands._**

"A bit too early for Halloween is it not?" Laura asked with a raised eyebrow.

 ** _The voice switches to slightly accented English and says "Not 'who are you' Stiles. Who are we?" The bandaged man then begins talking about how cold it has become and the fact that Stiles has stopped shivering. Stiles recognizes this as the body shutting down to conserve energy as it falls into hypothermia. He knows this because he did his 5th grade science report on the topic. The bandaged man continues to use the "we" pronoun. Stiles tells him to stop but the man responds that "we're trying to keep you from freezing to death. You better get out Stiles."_**

"Why does he keep saying we? My body I get but what is he doing?" Stiles asks himself a bit agitated.

 ** _We can now see that the bandaged man has the same sharp metallic teeth seen on the Nogitsune in Silverfinger._**

"Holy shit that's the Nogitsune" Laura gasps. "Does that mean.." Stiles began finally piecing the words the thing was saying, "That you are possessed? Yep pretty much" Derek shrugged.

 ** _Stiles points out that his leg is trapped but the Nogitsune rejects this. He claims that there is no trap and says the trap was on Stiles' right leg before. The trap switches to Stiles right leg and the Nogitsune again says "we're trying to save your life."_**

"Wait does that mean that everything around me is some sort of illusion?" Stiles asks. "It would seem so" Talia nodded. Stiles looked at the screen and began biting his nails.

 ** _The Sheriff, Scott, Lydia and Aiden arrive at Eichen House and demand access to the basement. Lydia is sure she feels Stiles there. Indeed the basement looks almost exactly like the one where Stiles seems to be captive but he is nowhere to be found. None of them notice a backwards five scratched on the wall in the Eichen House basement._**

"It wasn't me you were drawn to. It was that thing on the wall. Or something behind it" Stiles realized and by the looks of it, so did Lydia.

 ** _Agent McCall has been reading the transcript of Scott's phone conversation with Stiles. He's focused on the bit about the smell making Stiles' eyes water. Melissa shows up saying she just finished her shift and wanted to help. Melissa and her Ex drive out together. He posits the theory that Stiles is still asleep and has been the entire time. He tells a story from when they were married about coming home drunk. From Melissa's reaction it happened quite a bit during their relationship. His story has to do with the fact that he thought the bedroom closet was the bathroom, was convinced of it while asleep to the point that he tried to pee into a laundry basket. He says Stiles may be convinced of where he is but it may be just a dream._**

"Pushing the hilarious 'peeing in the closet story' aside, you think this could all be a dream?" Stiles asked. Melissa and Rafael both nodded.

 ** _Stiles is deteriorating fast. He is almost convulsing with the shakes and can barely keep his eyes open. The Nogitsune is drawing another backwards five on the wall. He says Stiles doesn't understand that it's a riddle. He then asks if Stiles knows any riddles. Stiles says "a few."  
Riddles of the Nogitsune:_**

 ** _Q. What gets bigger the more you take away?_**

 ** _A. A hole._**

 ** _Q. What gets wetter the more it dries?_**

 ** _A. A towel._**

 ** _Q. When is a door not a door?_**

 ** _A. When it's ajar._**

 ** _Q. Everyone has it but no one can lose it, what is it?_**

 ** _The last riddle is asked a number of times, Stiles says he doesn't know the answer and the Nogitsune gets more and more agitated until it is screaming in Stiles face._**

"That's disgusting" Allison made a face.

 ** _It then grabs the trap attached to Stiles leg and begins to drag him across the floor. He screams and screams and suddenly he is in Melissa McCall's arms outside the cave where Malia Tate lived as a coyote for eight years._**

"So it was just a dream" Stiles sighed and sank into his seat.

 ** _Isaac is pounding on Allison's door. She has just woken up when she answers it and surprised that everyone was looking for her since she didn't get a call or text. Then she finds her phone was off. She claims she never turns her phone off. As the device starts up, a rush of texts from Scott show up on screen and there are also a bunch of voice mails from "Unknown Number." The recordings are in Japanese._**

"I didn't know you had Japanese speaking friends" Chris mutters with some surprise. "I don't" Allison mutters, eyes squinted.

 ** _Derek and Aiden give Stiles' Jeep a jump start. Aiden questions if Stiles was just sleep walking or if there might be something more to it. Derek says in Beacon Hills there's always "something more." Aiden confesses that he overheard Stiles confess to Scott that he was responsible for the blackboard message that sent Barrow after Kira. Derek is incredulous "You think Stiles, skinny, defenseless, Stiles is the Nogitsune, a powerful dark spirit?" Derek suggests that the demon might want to possess someone bigger and stronger with more power. This makes him think of Kira. In the hospital hallway, Sheriff Stilinski and Agent McCall get into an argument over Stilinski's attempt to show gratitude for saving Stiles' life. He reports to Scott, Lydia and Melissa that Stiles is sleeping and is just fine._**

"You two" Melissa shook her head.

 ** _Lydia is disappointed that her Banshee abilities didn't help find Stiles. She says she was so sure about the Mental Health Clinic. A loud clanging noise begins but only Lydia can hear it. She tells Scott she doesn't hear anything. Scott is in the locker room texting Deaton. His message: "Anything yet?" Deaton's reply: "Still working on it." Scott is preoccupied in the school hallway and seems not to notice when Kira calls out to him. Derek is there though and offers to help but quickly admits he wants to know everything that happened at the power station with William Barrow._**

"What are you up to here Derek?" Talia mused.

 ** _The Sheriff and Melissa are discussing Stiles symptoms. They've both come to the same conclusion –Stiles may be suffering from the same disease that killed his mother. The list of symptoms shown: Impulsive, Hallucinations, Insomnia, Night Terrors, Dissociative, and Confusion. The Sheriff concludes that they need to do some tests._**

"Oh no" Claudia gasps, hands over her mouth in horror, knowing full well what this disease could do to her son.

 ** _Kira shows Derek the scene of her kidnapping. There is an aluminum bat (Stiles' bat) magnetized to one of the metal equipment cases. Derek says he needs to know everything Kira does about foxfire. At school, Allison and Isaac play the Japanese voicemails for Mr. Yukimura. He says the voice is giving instructions to Japanese-Americans as they arrive at internment camps during World War II but he says the recording must be a fake because the camp mentioned in the message, Camp Oak Creek, didn't actually exist in California._**

"He is lying" Peter suddenly said. "How can you be so sure?" Lydia asked. Peter shrugged, "call it a gut feeling" he explained.

 ** _Lydia is hearing all the sounds, locker doors slamming, doors opening, and feet walking amplified to 10+. Scott invites her to come see Stiles at the hospital but she decides to go home instead. The doctor says he's not sure how to pronounce Stiles' first name or "if it's not just a misspelling." He goes on to explain how the Magnetic Resonance Imaging device will be very loud as it takes pictures of Stiles brain. The noise is from the electrical pulses through metal coils that will be surrounding him inside the tube-like device. Stiles confesses to Scott that the tests are looking for frontotemporal dementia which is the same illness that killed his mother, Claudia Stilinski. Stiles accurately describes the incurable disorder in which areas of your brain begin to shrink. Scott says if Stiles has it he will "do something" implying that he will attempt to cure him by way of his alpha werewolf bite. The boys embrace._**

"Thank you Scott" Claudia said through a sob and smiled at Scott with tears running down her face while Noah smiled at the boy. Scott nodded himself with a smile.

 ** _Kira and Derek pull up outside the hospital. She is nervous about going in because Derek is about to tell Scott that William Barrow used Kira's foxfire to jumpstart the power of the Nogitsune so that it could take over Stiles. Derek says she should stay outside. Stiles slides into the machine. The noise is makes is the same as Lydia heard the night before. She is sitting in her car and can hear the same noise again. She turns up her car radio to try to drown it out. Derek and Scott have a heart to heart. Derek says he took Cora back to South America where she lived after the fire. He explains that his conversation with Talia Hale revealed that the Hale's didn't just live in Beacon Hills, they protected it. Derek says the town needs someone like Scott to protect it again. This sparks the realization that Stiles' stress on the hospital's roof had come from his struggle with himself to protect his friends. Scott says Stiles was struggling to "not do something." They rush to the roof where they find a bag of tools. Just above them, Scott and Derek see a large gauge electrical wire that has been partially cut. A few sparks fly from it. The noise of Stiles' MRI becomes so loud in Lydia's ears that she lets out a Banshee scream. The images of Stiles' brain show atrophy (deterioration) in a couple of different areas. The doctor points to the frontal and parietal lobes. Inside the machine, the noise continues and Stiles looks near to panic. Suddenly the noise is gone and he is standing up. The MRI room is all fuzzy and out of focus. The Nogitsune is there too. He repeats his riddle from earlier. He says if Stiles answers correctly they might consider letting "them go." He says all Stiles' friends, family - anyone who ever meant anything to him - will die one by one. He repeats the riddle again and again until he is screaming "Everyone has it but no one can lose it, what is it?" Stiles finally answers "a shadow" just as the Nogitusne removes the last of the bandages revealing that he now has Stiles face._**

"Oh shit" Laura mumbled, summing up everyone's thought.

 ** _Stiles awakes in the MRI machine but he is no longer himself. A power surge dims the lights briefly. Stiles leaves the room in the darkness. The cut power cable on the roof explodes knocking out power to the hospital. Stiles calmly ties his shoes and makes his way down the hall to where Mrs. Yukimura is waiting in the elevator. She says "You know me." Stiles nods and she explains that he knows she won't be deterred by his choice of host even if it is an innocent boy. Stiles responds very calmly "you threatening us?" Two Oni appear flanking Mrs. Yukimura. Stiles says he's not afraid of her "fireflies." She says that if the Oni can't defeat him, she knows someone who will. Stiles smiles at this. Outside, Kira watches as the severed power line whips around and off the roof flying straight at her face._**

"No way am I the main villain this time" Stiles groans.


	48. 3-19

**_A group of Yakuza are gathered at their boss Ikeda's home. He is angry because his pet white wolf is sick and he grows tired of waiting for the doctor._**

"Three guesses who that is" Stiles smirked.

 ** _It is Dr. Deaton who comes to treat the wolf. After a brief examination he asks if the wolf, Yuki, has been around any unusual plants. He describes a type of lichen that is "bright green, almost neon." The boss admits that such a plant grows in his garden. Deaton says he needs a sample to determine the species. When all of his men refuse to show the doctor to the garden, he calls them superstitious idiots and takes Deaton himself._**

"All of them afraid of one little lichen? Is it just me or does that sound weird to you" Scott asked Stiles. "Dude. I'm possessed by an evil fox demon. Everything is weird right now" Stiles dead panned.

 ** _The garden is the same one where young Chris Argent first encountered the Oni. The lichen grows on top of the fountain where the blood fell when the Nogitsune was killed. Deaton hands a glass container to the boss, then bends down to take a sample of the plant. He says it is likely that Yuki would never come anywhere near the place. He says the wolf can sense what happened in the garden, to the boss's father and the nogitsune that possessed him. The boss pulls a gun on him. Deaton is nonplussed and calmly explains that the plant is Letharia Vulpina or "Wolf Lichen" and describes the process by which it is used to kill predators, wolves and foxes. He says "they" would put out meat stuffed with the lichen and broken glass that the animals would eat. The broken glass would perforate the internal organs and allow the vulpinic acid to reach them faster._**

"That's just so many levels of wrong" Allison shivered.

 ** _Angry and confused, the boss wants to know what Deaton did to his wolf. The doctor says he gave him a strong paralytic agent and that the glass vial the boss is holding is coated with the same substance. The boss drops the gun, his hand no longer able to hold it, and collapses._**

"I never thought I'd be saying this but go Kamina venom!" Isaac cheered.

 ** _As he places his sample into the bottle, Deaton explains this particular plant is quite special because it was born out of the blood of a nogitsune. Deaton says "there is a fox hiding inside a teenage boy and I'm going to poison it."_**

"Just don't poison me" Stiles said with a laugh. "I don't think the lichen can poison humans. I'm not sure" Talia said thoughtfully.

 ** _A sparking power line from the roof of Beacon Hills Hospital is flying at Kira's face. It whips past her but then, like it has a mind of its own, it seems to chase her, backing her up in the parking lot._**

"It feels like I'm watching some kind of movie" Isaac said. "Technically our lives are being showed in a movie like way soooo" Stiles added with a grin.

 ** _An ambulance speeds around the corner and hits the electrified line. The driver loses control and rams a fire hydrant, water sprays everywhere and begins to pool and run across the parking lot. Dazed by the impact, the ambulance driver stumbles out of the vehicle. When his foot hits the wet ground he is instantly electrocuted. Issac and Allison arrive just in time to witness this. When Allison runs forward to help the driver, Isaac pushes her back just as the water reaches his feet. He is also felled by the electrified water._**

"Right save the girl then get electrocuted yourself. First class self-sacrifice right there folks" Isaac said sarcastically and rolled his eyes.

 ** _A woman steps from a car and is electrocuted. Derek and Scott arrive just as Kira somersaults over a car and grabs the live wire. She caps the sparking end with her free hand and the power subsides as her eyes begin to glow warm amber. Kira's Mom exits the hospital just in time to witness her daughter's power. Derek rushes to Isaac and finds he is not breathing._**

"That was some intense moves" Laura said in awe. "Yeah look at the moves. Not like I could die or anything right now" Isaac huffed making Laura roll her eyes.

 ** _48 hours later, Scott is in bed fully clothed. He remembers the events of that night again. A badly burned Isaac is rushed into the emergency room. Deputy Parrish reports that Stiles' Jeep was seen leaving the hospital. Kira's mom warns her that it "is not the time" for people to see her power. Agent McCall notes that the power line was cut and warns that everyone should be looking for signs of sabotage. Derek tells Scott to tell Sheriff Stilinski what's really wrong with Stiles._**

"You remember more or less everything important from that night. Good for you" Rafael smiled at his son. Scott shrugged, "I think the Kira one I picked up accidentally because of my wolf hearing".

 ** _Melissa McCall holds a cup of tea at the kitchen table when her son comes in. She explains that they've still not found Stiles after 48 hours. She says, despite how long he's been gone, if anyone could be missing for two days then turn up and be just fine - it would be Stiles. They decide to stop by the hospital on the way to school to check on Isaac._**

"I have no doubt that Stiles would turn up all fine in two days. But this isn't Stiles here. It's the Nogitsune and that thing while he would protect Stiles, could end up causing a slaughter. And that is the thing we should be worried about" Peter said with a frown.

 ** _Sheriff Stilinski is looking at a text from his son. It reads – "Am ok. Please don't look for me. Be back soon." Deputy Parrish arrives with a delivery man, he has two boxes wrapped in brown paper which Parrish explains are "printer cartridges and stuff, batteries for the next blackout." Agent McCall enters and asks if the Sheriff has had any problems with Yakuza. Allison has fallen asleep in the hallway of the hospital. She explains to Scott and Mrs. McCall that they won't let her in to see Isaac because she is not family. She says she told them that he doesn't have any family. Melissa says "he's got us" and produces her key card and lets Allison and Scott in to see him._**

Isaac looked down at his feet and smiled to himself.

 ** _Isaac is badly burned on the side of his face and neck. Both Allison and Scott are surprised that he is not healing. Scott takes his arm and absorbs some of Isaac's pain. He explains that it won't heal him but he won't hurt as much. Allison wants to know if Stiles is really responsible. Scott says whatever is inside of Stiles did it and that he is working on getting it out of his friend. Later at school, Kira explains that Kitsune are tricksters and have no concept of right or wrong but that Nogitsune react badly if you offend it adding that with the level of bad being perpetrated, someone really, really offended this nogitsune._**

"I wonder who could have fucked over this dark spirit?" Lydia mused

 ** _Coach blows his whistle and reminds his team that if anyone sees Stiles they should immediately report it to a teacher. He then says there is a card for Isaac on his desk. He insists that the team not only sign the card but each must write a personal message so profound and deep that it will "bring a tear to coach's eye." Danny is first up to sign. The coach warns him to keep it "PG."_**

"I didn't think he would care" Laura said honestly. "The thing with coach is that he might have his quirks, but he really cares about each and every member of the team" Stiles said with a smile.

 ** _The twins report to Scott that they've not seen Stiles or the "Demonic Ninjas" (Oni). At that moment their werewolf hearing picks up the piercing tone of one of Chris Argent's ultrasonic emitters. They follow the sound to the basement where they find Stiles waiting. The twins attack until Scott forces them off, throwing Ethan against a locker and then growling Aiden into submission._**

"On the bright side, Scott has this Alpha thing down pretty well" Stiles smirked while Scott rolled his eyes playfully.

 ** _Stiles explains that he doesn't know what he's been doing for two days. He has a blueprint of the hospital electrical grid and a bag full of rope, wire and tools as well as a map of the Cross Country Team's running trail. The trial is the same area where Malia Tate lost her family in a car wreck and where her father put out a bunch of metal bear traps in an attempt to catch the werecoyote. Believing the nogitsune has used Stiles to set up booby-traps along the trail, the trio race to stop the team._**

"As nice it is to hear that I am myself, I don't believe me" Stiles said. "What do you mean?" Allison asked. But it was Peter who answered her before Stiles could, "The nogitsune is a strong dark spirit. I don't think Stiles just got back himself and this is all just another trick" he explained.

 ** _Lydia sees her mom down at the end of the hall in school. She is talking to Peter Hale. As she draws closer Peter disappears in the crowd. When questioned, Lydia's Mom says Peter claimed to be from the health department and was there to set up hearing tests for the students. He also apparently slipped Mrs. Martin his phone number to which she chirps "still got it."_**

"She is hot" Peter said with a smirk and then fell over when a pillow hit him on the back of his head with some force. Lydia huffed and sat back.

 ** _Chris Argent returns home to find his door ajar and an ultrasonic emitter stabbed into the top of his office desk. Derek Hale is in the room. He knocks the gun from Argent's hand and places his claws against his neck. Chris pulls another gun and holds it to Derek's temple. Derek accuses Argent of leaving the emitter in his loft. An uneasy truce is established and the weapons are put away._**

"A truce between a Hale and an Argent? How times change" Peter said, sitting back down on his seat before falling forward again, being hit on the back of his head again.

 ** _On the trail, Danny takes the lead but is passed by a gleeful Kira who suddenly realizes that she can run supernaturally fast. Stiles and Aiden catch up to Coach at the start of the trail._**

"Have I ever told you how funny Kira is?" Stiles laughed.

 ** _Argent realizes that one of his cabinets has been forced open. Inside there is a metal briefcase, after checking it for a trap, they open it and find $150 thousand dollars. It is the money that would have come from the sale of his antique gun to Silverfinger. At that moment, Agent McCall comes in with the prosthetic silver finger in an evidence bag and says the old Yakuza is dead._**

"Did..you two just get framed?" Allison asked with a raised eyebrow. "It would seem so" Chris muttered while Derek sighed.

 ** _Ethan catches and tackles Danny who is confused until the weretwin says he "missed" him and starts kissing him. Scott manages to stop Kira who is still giddy with her speed ability. Stiles Coach and Aiden arrive and they manage to stop the rest of the cross country team. Stiles finds a chain under some leaves but it is attached to nothing. Coach, believing this is just another funny/weird Stilinski moment begins to berate him and steps forward into a tripwire. An arrow punctures Coach's diaphragm and he collapses._**

"Oh my God!" Allison gasped. "Eh, he'll survive" Peter waved it off.

 ** _Allison and Lydia arrive at Derek's Loft to see Peter. Allison is trying to talk her friend out of it but Lydia, worried about her recent "colossal failure" in using her Banshee abilities, wants the help Peter is offering. Allison says Peter doesn't offer help, he offers to manipulate people into giving him what he wants._**

"Well she isn't wrong" Lydia mutters.

 ** _On the trail Coach is screaming. Stiles is pushing on the wound in his stomach which has spread blood all over his shirt. The arrow is still in there and the coach is screaming for someone to pull it out. Stiles gives Scott a look indicating he should use his ability to take away pain. Scott does so and Coach passes out. Derek and Chris are handcuffed to a bench outside Sheriff Stilinski's office. They discuss why Stiles would want to frame them for murder. Chris says he's not entirely convinced that's what is going on and comes up with a scheme to buy more time to figure it out. He asks Derek to say that he wants Argent's attorney to represent him as well. Peter wants Allison to leave. Lydia says she stays because the last time she was alone with Peter she almost bled out on a lacrosse field. Peter defends himself, explaining again that he didn't want to kill her because she was his "backup plan" and then claims that the bite is what brought out her nascent abilities. Then, in a passable Humphrey Bogart accent, Peter says "I'm the spark that lit your fire sweetheart." He then uses circular logic to suggest that he brainwashed her and used her to bring him back to life so that he could be here now helping her understand her banshee abilities to which Allison says "he's insane."_**

"That he is" Talia shook her head and Peter scowled.

 ** _They turn to leave but Peter entices them back with information about her powers. He says her Banshee scream simply blocks out all the other noise so she can hear what she really needs to. He says that he can help her focus her hearing. He explains that in exchange for his help he needs Lydia to listen to his dead sister's claws to find out what memory she stole from him. Coach gets put into an ambulance and Sheriff Stilinski finally gets to hug his son. Aiden discovers wrapping paper in the back of Stiles' Jeep. Remembering that William Barrow used a giftwrapped package to deliver his bomb to a school bus, they call the school and evacuate all the kids off the busses – all but one. Jared is sitting near the back of the bus._**

"Oh no" Stiles groaned, biting his nails again.

 ** _Deputy Parrish insists that he can safely get a look at what type of bomb they're dealing with because he was "certified HDT" after two years in the military._**

"oooh" Lydia said with some interest.

 ** _Lydia holds Talia's claws. Peter says she needs to focus but says he can "see the wheels spinning" behind her eyes. He explains that her hearing is attuned to a level of the universe that no one else can hear. But it only works if she is listening. When he yells at her to try harder, Allison whips out the electroshock/cattle prod device. He pops his claws and says Aunt Kate had the same thing but it didn't help her when he slashed her throat._**

"No but you are not an Alpha anymore and you're far weaker than before" Allison fired back.

 ** _Lydia screams at them to stop and throws Talia's claws so hard they stick into a wooden beam like darts. She begins to hear whispering. Peter grows more and more agitated as Lydia listens to the voices. Finally she turns and says "you're not just an uncle."_**

"Wait what?" Peters eyes widened.

 ** _Derek is annoyed and wants to break out of the cuffs. Argent says he could too but doesn't want to be a fugitive from the law. He convinces Derek to be patient a little while longer. While Derek agrees he says that if something happens "don't expect me to risk my life for yours." Mrs. Yukimura is waiting for her husband in his classroom. Kira is following him at a discrete distance. He enters, closes the door and retrieves a large History of the World book from a shelf. She is incredulous that he "hid them in a book" but he says it's the safest place around a bunch of teenagers because few would ever "willingly open a book."_**

"The man is smart" Melissa laughed along with the rest of the adults.

 ** _Inside the pages have been cut to create nine slots. Each is designed to hold a single black knife. Mr. Yukimura tells his wife that she needs to tell Kira "especially about this" indicating the book. He says she has already "sacrificed five." He says three of the Oni are gone then asks "how many tails are you willing to sacrifice?" She says all of them if she has to. She then removes one of the knives, about a foot in length, all black with a rectangular hilt. She snaps the knife in two causing her husband to wince as if in pain. A pale blue light escapes the two broken pieces of the knife. She lays the pieces down and repeats the process with a second knife. She says "these Oni will be stronger, much stronger."_**

"SHE is the one making the Oni's!?" Stiles asked in alarm.

 ** _Parrish enters the bus and tries to keep Jared calm while he checks out the wrapped package. Jared is sweating profusely and Parrish admonishes him not to throw up. He keeps talking to distract the boy explaining that he is 24 but still looks young and that anyone can look young if they eat right and exercise but that it really comes down to good genes. While he continues with this patter he has managed to snip the ribbon from the box. He slowly pries open the lid and looks inside. Parrish radios to the Sheriff that it is not a bomb but that something else was in the box. He then walks to the front of the bus and holds up the nameplate from Sheriff Stilinski's desk. The sheriff remembers the packages delivered to him that morning, realizes that the bomb is at the station._**

"Dad" Allison said in horror.

 ** _The Deputies at the station are in a panic. They hastily unlock Argent and Derek's handcuffs and run for the door. Derek seems to hear something coming from the box on Stilinski's desk and yells for Argent to get down then covers him with his own body to shield him from the blast._**

"And here I thought you wouldn't risk yourself for me" Chris gave him a side look. Derek said nothing.

 ** _At the school, Mr. Yukimura and his wife watch as the sun sets. At the Nemeton, fireflies erupt from the magic stump. These are slightly different than the ones seen before. There is a blue, slightly metallic, sheen to their wings. Inside the Sheriff's Station, Stilinski is calling for an ambulance reporting "multiple officers down." Derek's back is riddled with glass shards as Argent helps him stand. Derek says he's okay, Argent points out that Derek saved his life._**

"Dude you look like a porcupine" Isaac snickered. "Shut it brat" Laura snarled, worried about her brother.

 ** _Stiles and Scott kneel by one badly injured deputy. Stiles encourages Scott to take the dying man's pain, which he does until the man expires. Kira runs in and tells them that the Oni are coming. They plan to take Stiles to the Vet Clinic since it is lined with Mountain Ash and will offer some limited protection from the Demon Warriors. Lydia denies knowing anything beyond the fact that Peter is a father. Peter makes to physically threaten her but Allison jabs him in the back with the cattle prod and he is left writhing on the floor. Later, in the car, she and Allison each pull up a different image on their phones. One is of Peter the other is Malia Tate. Lydia says Malia is Peter's daughter._**

"You took my daughter away from me?" Peter stood up, growling menacingly. "It was for her good" Talia growled back. Peter snarled and tackled his sister, "Her good my ass! You think you are all this high built mighty wolf who knows best for everyone. But you are nothing but a weak, pathetic she wolf who loves to ruin things for her own fucking brother!" he screamed furiously punching Talia on the face. There was a blinding light and Peter and Talia were now seated apart, tied down. Peter struggled, "You think this will hold me? When I get lose, I will destroy you Talia Hale! I will make whatever I did there look like a child's play in comparison to what OI will do to you!" Peter snarled eyes flashing blue for about a moment. While all this went on, the Hale's were too surprised to act while the others just didn't want to get involved. Malia looked down at her feet in shock.

 ** _Scott, Stiles and Kira arrive at the clinic just before the Oni. Scott and Kira fight them off while Stiles unlocks the door. During the fight one of the Oni stabs Scott in the stomach, leaving the sword lodged in him. They manage to get Scott inside but then Stiles grabs Kira's arm and slams her head into the exam table, knocking her out. He then grabs the hilt of the sword and twists. Nogitsune Stiles explains that he feeds on pain and misery and that he's been manipulating Scott to soak up as much pain as he could all day just so he could feed. Then, placing his hand to the side of Scott's head, he absorbs all the pain Scott has taken. Then, all smiles, Nogitsune Stiles says Scott really has to learn "not to trust a fox because they're tricksters. They'll fool you." while in flashbacks we see that the nogitsune showed its true face in Stiles' expressions several times throughout the day. He finishes by saying "They'll fool everyone" at that point Deaton steps up and says "not everyone" then injects a syringe into Stiles' neck. The nogitsune collapses on the floor. Deaton pulls the sword out of Scott and explains that he poisoned the fox but "it's not dead, not yet."_**

"I am so sorry" Stiles said to Scott who waved it off. "It's not your fault man. You weren't in control there" he smiled. Stiles nodded but he felt very responsible for everything the evil nogitsune was doing by using his body.


	49. 3-20

**_Stiles and Sheriff Stilinski ride in silence. Both seem tempted to speak but don't._**

"I wonder where we are going" Stiles mumbled.

 ** _They pull up outside Eichen House and without a word get out of the vehicle and stare up at the imposing metal gate and the edifice beyond._**

"You're moving into the nut house?" Scott asked in shock. Stiles shrugged, "guess it's to protect others from the demon fox till Deaton finds a permanent cure" he mumbled. Al of the present people could understand what he meant but not everyone liked it.

 ** _Scott arrives on his dirt bike, upset that no one told him that Stiles was moving into Eichen House for 72 hours. He's worried because William Barrow and his fly-filled tumor came from this place. The Sheriff explains that Stiles' MRI results looked exactly like those of his wife, Claudia Stilinski, and he is terrified. He is going to LA "tomorrow" to talk to a specialist and Stiles has requested that he be locked away in the mental health facility so that he doesn't hurt anyone. Scott tries to talk him out of the plan saying that "Deaton's got some ideas and Argent is calling people" to try to find something to help him rid himself of the Nogitsune. Stiles says if they don't find something then Scott must make sure he never gets out._**

"Why me?" Scott asked. Stiles smiled, "because I trust you and know that you'll do the right thing". Scott smiled half-heartedly at that.

 ** _The Eichen House attendant explains the rules. There are no phone calls, emails or visitors allowed in the first 72 hours. As she lays out the process, a physical, meeting with a psychologist, and group therapy, Sheriff Stilinski becomes more and more agitated. The sounds of door buzzers and cell doors slamming fill his ears. The attendant takes Stiles shoes and gives him brown slippers because "no laces allowed" and then makes him empty his pockets of keys and other items. Suddenly the Sheriff declares that they forgot Stiles' pillow and that they both must leave to go and get it. He manically explains that every time they've stayed in a hotel, the first thing they pack is Stiles' pillow. It is irrational, but he clings to this as an excuse to get his son away and home because "I'm not checking you in here if you're not going to get one decent night's sleep."_**

"He still has the pillow?" Claudia asked her husband in a hushed voice. "Yeah" he replied in a whisper and hugs her when she buries herself into him.

 ** _Stiles explains that he hasn't slept well in weeks and hugs his father tightly. Then Stiles is gone, off down the hall with the attendant, leaving his father standing alone and helpless._**

Noah sighed at the scene, never having thought that he would be stripped of his only family alive like that.

 ** _As they ascend the stairs, Stiles sees someone he thinks he recognizes down one of the hallways. The attendant urges him on and when he looks back she is gone. On one of the landings above, a man is knotting a sheet and talking to himself, quoting a riddle. "I'm part of the bird that's not in the sky. I can swim in the ocean yet still remain dry." He then loops the knotted sheet around his neck in a noose and leaps from the landing hanging himself. In the crowd of onlookers gathered in the stairwell below, Stiles sees the Nogitsune._**

"It's shadow" Peter mumbled. "What?" Stiles looked at the tied down maniac. "The answer to the riddle. Its shadow" he answered. Stiles nodded his head and resumed watching.

 ** _Chris Argent is talking to Dr. Deaton on the payphone at the Sheriff's Station. It was apparently Chris who helped Deaton infiltrate the Yakuza Ikeda's house in Letharia Vulpina to get the Wolf Lichen to poison the Nogitsune. At the Animal Clinic, Allison and Scott are listening as Deaton explains to Chris that they have two problems. First – the lichen is not a cure and will wear off in a matter of days. Chris says while the poison is working the Oni will not go after Stiles. And Deaton adds that Eichen House has an interesting history and that the Oni might not be safe there._**

"The ONI are not SAFE in Eichen!? What kind of a fucked up place is this mental institute?" Stiles asked in shock. "The kind which has a rich history with the supernatural" Talia answered with a frown.

 ** _The second problem is that, having checked with Chris' contacts in Japan, Deaton's learned that the possessed Yakuza boss we saw killed in Riddled never found "the Shugendō (_** ** _修験道_** ** _)_** ** _scroll". He explains that the Shugendō were the ascetic mystics of Japan and the scroll had information on how to exorcise a nogitsune. The man who last purchased it was Silverfinger's henchman Kincaid. They suspect that Silverfinger a.k.a. Katashi wanted the scroll for himself and was paranoid enough to keep it on him at all times. The sheriff hasn't found the scroll in any of Katashi's belongings but Allison has an idea that it might be very small and just where it might be hidden._**

"The prosthetic finger!" Chris and Allison said in unison before looking at each other with smiles on their faces.

 ** _After witnessing the suicide, Stiles is desperate to use the phone. The attendant says "the accident that occurred is being taken care of." Stiles balks at the use of the word "accident" and she changes it to the slightly more accurate "incident." He pushes her to use the phone and she threatens him with their, 'five point restraint system'. Stiles' roommate, who is himself strapped down to his bed, says sleep is the better option._**

"They wouldn't dare" Noah growled. "Dad. I'm in as a mental patient. It's normal that they use force against mental patients" Stiles mumbled. Noah looked at her son and sighed, not liking what he was hearing.

 ** _The roommate introduces himself as Oliver, he says he heard the suicide because something in the way the building is constructed causes everything to echo "eventually." He says they call it "Echo House." Stiles sits up the whole night. In the morning, Oliver has a coughing fit. He says he swallowed a bug "the other day" and it feels like he still has it stuck in his throat._**

"A bug the other day huh? I know it's a stretch but I smell fox here" Peter sniffed.

 ** _Oliver gives him the tour and explains that the violent patients are locked away in a closed ward. He then points out some of the other patients. Hillary has OCD. Gary, Dan and Mary are all delusional and think they are Jesus Christ. Stiles says he wants to use the phone because he's decided Eichen House isn't safe for him or "anyone ever." A girl is talking on the payphone so Stiles waits behind her. She tells the person on the other end that she really thinks she "should tell them" because "they're going to want to know the story, the whole story" then she adds "one of them is standing right behind me." After she's hung up and walks away, Stiles inquires and Oliver explains that her name is Meredith and that "she's a little weird." Stiles picks up the phone and finds the line is dead. Oliver says they always turn off all the phones for 24 hours after a suicide._**

"You know, if she was talking about something that includes me, I think it's something that includes us" Stiles says motioning to himself and his friends. "And the way she was talking, I don't think it was her crazy" Lydia mumbled and Stiles looked at her. "You thinking what I'm thinking?" he asks with a raised eyebrow. "Wailing woman" Lydia said and nodded.

 ** _Exiting onto the Eichen House porch, Stiles spots Malia Tate and starts to remind her of his role in restoring her to human form. She punches him. They are both promptly tackled by facility staff and Stiles finds himself face down on the ground on top of a grate. It is the same grate with round openings that he remembers from his Riddled dream. Only, in the dream he was below the grate looking up._**

"Okay first off, you do not thank people like that" Stiles pointed to a growling Malia. "And secondly, why is my dream coming true?" he asked in some degrees of fright.

 ** _The orderlies are getting a little rough with Stiles until Ms. Morrell shows up and puts a stop to it. Stiles explains to her about the basement. In adjoining cells at the Sheriff's Station, Argent is waiting impatiently for Derek to listen in to the deputies and find out what is going to happen with Silverfinger's belongings. Derek hears that Stilinski is out for the day and that the feds are taking all the evidence they've gathered. It will be picked up and transported to federal lockup. Then they discuss the morality of what Stiles did, killing people, while under the influence of the Nogitsune. Argent compares it to the situation with the Kanima but Derek says they "got lucky with Jackson" and wonders aloud what happens when you don't get lucky._**

"We don't want to know" Allison shivered.

 ** _Argent tells the story of the Berserkers of ancient Europe who dressed up in bear skins in an effort to channel the bear's ferocity when they went into battle. Argent says they actually became the animals they were trying to channel and lost all humanity in the process because they were not "tempered by the moon." He says "a couple years ago" a family approached the Argents because their son was involved with a group of kids who were playing around with rituals, channeling the animals through their skins. The boy was completely lost and tearing people apart. It took three men and "every bullet we had" but Chris eventually put him down. He says he felt no remorse because the kid was "long gone." He says he would feel remorse for killing Stiles but not the Nogitsune._**

"Thanks I guess?" Stiles says with a questioning tone. "You're welcome" Chris smiles at the confused teen.

 ** _In group therapy, Ms. Morrell is discussing guilt. She says it's a good thing, a rather mature emotion. She tries to draw Malia out questioning her visceral reaction to guilt. Malia says it makes her sick to her stomach. Morrell says it often becomes physical and is not just psychological. While she's talking Stiles believes he sees the Nogitsune talking to one of the orderlies. Morrell calls on him for his reaction to guilt. He says it makes him nervous. Morrell interprets this as a sense of urgency saying Stiles feels an urgent need to make up for something he's done. She says those are healthy responses. Stiles again sees the Nogitsune first from the corner of his eye then sitting next to him in the group circle._**

"Okay Eichen is of absolutely no help at all right now" Scott growled.

 ** _Morrell asks the group what they call someone who doesn't experience guilt. Oliver volunteers the right answer that such a person would be a "sociopath." Morrell, noticing red jagged lines on Stiles' neck, ends the group session and takes him to her office. Stiles has a red mark that looks like lightning bolts running up his back to his neck. Morrell says it is a Lichtenberg figure which is known to appear after lightning strikes a person. She describes the appearance on Stiles after a shot of Wolf Lichen as both significant and strange. She says when the marks fade the Nogitsune will have control of Stiles again. She gives him amphetamines to stay away, saying sleep would be the exactly what he doesn't want to do because he is vulnerable when he's asleep. She also threatens to inject him with pancuronium bromide which she says will cause respiratory paralysis. She explains that the drug is used to carry out lethal injections. Stiles realizes she plans to kill him if the Nogitsune takes over. She says she'll do what she's always done – "maintain the balance." She leaves him with a warning to "stay awake."_**

"Killing a teenage boy is not how you maintain balance!" Claudia said in anger. "Mom. I'm the nogitsune. Me dead means the thing dies too" Stiles mumbles. Claudia looked at her son, her eyes already getting wet. She pulled him into a hug and held onto him as tightly as she could.

 ** _Stiles attempts to get down to the basement but the door is locked. Oliver says the head orderly, Brunski, has a key. Oliver suggests if Stiles want's Brunski's keys he will have to "figure out a way to trick him." Scott, Ethan and Aiden join Allison and Lydia at the Argent's penthouse. Allison explains that all of the Silverfinger evidence is being moved by armored car within a few hours. The kids plan to rob the armored car._**

"Of course you guys would do that" Melissa rolled her eyes.

 ** _In the Eichen House men's shower room, Stiles takes one of the pills Ms. Morrell gave him. Looking in the mirror, he notices that Malia is showering behind him. There are some awkward moments where Stiles tries not to look at her naked body. She explains that she uses the shower in the men's room because they're hotter than in the women's. She says ever since she became human again she's constantly cold. Stiles fumbles around with some scientific explanation about a lower core temperature before she cuts him off and explains that she used to have a full body fur coat when she was a werecoyote._**

"That is a much better explanation" Isaac snorts.

 ** _He asks why she punched him and she sarcastically thanks Stiles for invading her home, putting her on the run, and turning her back to human. She says she looked at her father every day and tried to figure out how to tell him that her sister and mother are dead because she almost ate them on a full moon._**

"Okay yeah the punch was reasonable" Stiles agreed.

 ** _Stiles says they were just trying to help. Malia says if they want to help her they will find a way to change her back. Stiles says he might know somebody who could teach her how to change. She agrees to help him distract Brunski and get the keys._**

"Would you look at that? Little Scott is going to get the first member of his pack" Peter smirked. "Actually he already has a few members" Derek explains. "He has Stiles, Allison, Lydia, Isaac and me sometimes" he shrugged while Scott looked at Derek with bulging eyes.

 ** _Scott thinks the plan to rob the armored car isn't good. Aiden keep interjecting that they should just attack the driver but Allison and Lydia are going for something more subtle and less bloody. The plan is stick a GPS tracker on the truck. Then they'll block the road with the twins bikes as if there's been an accident. When the driver stops to help, Scott will then rip the door off the back and retrieve Siverfinger's silver finger._**

"That's an ok plan" Chris mutters. "Ok?" Allison asks. "There are too many flaws to this plan" Chris simply said.

 ** _Oliver pins Malia to the floor screaming that she's lying about the Eichin House staff drilling holes in his head. Brunski steps in to break up the fight. Malia lifts his keys and hands them off to Stiles. At the Sheriff's station, Argent is taken to an interview room to meet with his lawyer. He is surprised to find the older Spanish speaking woman. She calls him "Christophe."_**

"Why does she call you Christophe?" Allison asked her father with a chuckle. Chris shrugged, "Beats me".

 ** _Stiles tries all the keys but none open the door to the basement. Brunski catches him, locks him a "quite room" and gives him a shot of Haldol which puts him to sleep._**

"I hate this orderly" Malia snarled. "You're not alone there" Stiles said angrily.

 ** _Scott is leaving his house to join the armored truck heist when Kira shows up. She's brought her sword and says she's been picking up the skill really fast. She wants to help but Scott says no. She thinks he doesn't want her around because of her mother but Scott says that's not it, he's worried about her because people who help him end up getting hurt.. She takes a few swipes with the sword and he's impressed enough to allow her to come along._**

"Right so a few swings and yo're impressed?" Allison scowled at her boyfriend. Scott laughed nervously and rubbed her back.

 ** _Stiles dreams he's trapped in a locker. He begs to be let out. The Nogitsune is outside banging on the door and demanding that Stiles "let me in!" He wakes in the quiet room and Malia is there. She says she broke the lock because if she concentrates she can be pretty strong. She says there's another way into the basement, through the closed unit where they keep "the real psychos". Outside the Sheriff's station, Allison, Scott and Kira watch the armored truck. Allison sends Kira to attach the GPS tracker to the truck. Just as she clicks the device in place, Deputy Parrish exits the station. Kira hides on the other side of the vehicle. Parrish opens the door and finds the driver unconscious and bloody._**

"Don't tell me the twins did what they were told not to" Allison groaned.

 ** _Parrish draws his sidearm and walks around to the back of the truck scanning the parking lot. While his back is turned, the doors of the truck fly open and Kincaid jumps down and knocks the deputy cold._**

"Well the twins didn't do what they were told not to do" Isaac chuckled.

 ** _Inside, Argent is still meeting with the mysterious woman. They're discussing the code, she says it's more than a code of behavior, "it's a code of honor." She says it binds their families and that he can't abandon such things lightly. Argent counters asking where in the code it said his wife had to kill herself. The woman says Victoria Argent "honored us with her dying breath." Upset now, Chris says she could have honored her daughter by staying alive._**

Allison sighs sadly at the mention of her mother.

 ** _She says the Argent family is very complicated. He demands to know what she wants, wondering if this visit is somehow about Allison. The woman gets up and leaves without an explanation. Kincaid retrieves the silver finger. Scott politely interrupts him and says "we need that finger" as Allison draws a bead on him with the crossbow. She offers him the $150 thousand in the briefcase in exchange but Kincaid says the scroll inside the finger is worth $3 million._**

"Yeah we are waaay short on the cash here" Laura says.

 ** _Scott says "give me the finger." as Kira jumps down onto Kincaid's back. He shrugs her off easily and bares his fangs saying "I guess negotiations are over." Stiles and Malia make it to the basement of Eichen House. Stiles points out the Japanese symbol for "self" scratched into the wall. She urges Stiles to tell her more, he says "you might not like me if you knew more." She reminds him that she is a werecoyote that murdered her whole family and promises not to judge._**

Stiles smiled a little at that.

 ** _Kincaid removes one of Allison's arrows from his body. Kira takes a swing but is picked up by the throat and thrown aside. Allison gets backhanded. Scott takes several swings but Kincaid barely flinches. He then grabs Scott's arms, pins them to his side and delivers a headbutt that staggers the teen wolf. Scott comes back swinging but takes a punch to the gut and a chop to the back followed by a kick to the stomach that knocks the wind out of him._**

"Taken down by one lone wolf" Peter winces.

 ** _Kincaid kneels over him and says "you have the eyes of an Alpha, but where's the strength?" The twins are standing above the fray, Aiden yells down "up here!" as they pounce on the big wolf and proceed to beat the ever lovin crap out of him._**

"Gotwins!" Isaac whoops.

 ** _Stiles and Malia are going through a bunch of old papers that were stored in the basement. They find an illustration of trephination which is what Oliver was screaming about earlier – the practice of drilling holes in a patient's head to treat depression and other mental ailments._**

"That is not how you do it!" Stiles suddenly screamed.

 ** _Stiles has Malia check the lines on his back, they're fading and almost gone. Stiles shivers at the touch of Malia's cold hands. He holds her hands to warm them and they kiss. Malia says she wants to "try something else" and removes her shirt. The pair apparently have sex._**

"My man" Isaac says through fake tears. "Well I uh" Stiles mumbled to himself, red as a tomato while Malia looked no different than before. Lydia though looked deflated ever so slightly.

 ** _Scott yells for Ethen and Aiden to stop before they kill Kincaid. The twins argue saying that Scott doesn't want the big man coming after them. Scott says Kincaid looks smart enough to remember that they are dangerous and to stay away. He takes the silver finger, removes the scroll and lets the silver piece drop to the ground. He ends by saying, "We're here to save a life, not end one."_**

"Scott McCall, the true Alpha ladies and gentlemen" Isaac says through a laugh.

 ** _Spooning together on the couch, Malia has an idea. She walks over to the "self" kanji carved in the wall and raps on it with her fist. There is a hollow sound. Stiles grabs a pipe and busts in the wall. In a hollow behind the panel they see a skeleton all bandaged and covered in cobwebs. Stiles says it is the Nogitsune that he keeps seeing._**

"The nogitsune was buried alive in Eichen!?" Stiles says in shock. "And it all seems normal because it's Eichen" Peter sighed.

 ** _Malia reaches into the pocket of the corpse and removes a photograph. Handing it to Stiles she asks if he recognizes anyone. Stiles says he does recognize "one of them." At that moment, Oliver tazes Stiles and Malia. He then injects Malia with Haldol. Oliver brings up trephination again and grabs an electric drill. Holding it aloft he says he's "going to let the evil spirits out." Stiles is strapped down to a chair as is Malia. Oliver has a coughing fit and coughs up a handful of blood and a dead fly. He turns on the drill and moves toward Stiles' skull until a rough voice says "start with her." Oliver immediately stops and moves over to Malia. The Nogitsune is standing across the room. Stiles figures out that the creature somehow got into Oliver's head. The Nogitsune says "every Dracula needs a Renfield."_**

"Even the fox demon is doing movie references now" Scott groaned.

 ** _As Oliver prepares to drill into Malia's head, Stiles begs the Nogitsune to stop him. The creature doesn't relent until Stiles allows him to take control. Stiles/Nogitsune then breaks the straps restraining him, takes the drill from Oliver and knocks him out with it. He exits leaving Malia strapped to chair in the Eichen House basement._**

"This is bad news. Very bad news" Laura mumbled.

 ** _Deaton reads the tiny scroll and says there's not much there. It simply says that one way to expel a Nogitsune is for the host body to "change." Scott believes this could mean turning the host into a werewolf. Ms. Morrell is walking Malia out of Eichen House. Morrell says Malia is looking for Scott McCall and that she can help the girl find him._**

"So to save me from becoming the mass murdering fox demon, you need to bite me and turn me into a wolf?" Stiles asked. Scott shrugged, "I think that's what the scroll meant" he said. "Well this sounds bloody great" Stiles mumbled, rubbing his face.


	50. 3-21

**_In 1943 two soldiers are offloading the bodies of dead Americans into a field at night. Merrick is riddling Hayes._**

"Whoa history lesson" Laura mumbled.

 ** _The riddles are:_**

 ** _Q. "What gets broken without being held?"_**

 ** _A. "A promise."_**

 ** _Q. "What has teeth but doesn't bite?"_**

 ** _A. "A comb."_**

 ** _Q. "What has a neck but no head?"_**

 ** _A. "A bottle."_**

 ** _Hayes is not amused. As they return to the truck to retrieve two gas cans, a bandaged figure stands up from the pile of bodies. Its mouth is a bloody gash with shiny silver teeth._**

"So what? It's like the origin stories of the Nogitsune?" Isaac asked. "I guess" Stiles shrugged.

 ** _It begins advancing on them. Hayes fires a handgun into the creature several times but it never slows. Reaching the gun wielding man, the figure twists the weapon in his hand and fires several shots into the soldier's guts. It then rounds the truck to Merrick who is attempting to reach the safety of the cab. It grabs him by the ears and shouts "What has a neck but no head?" It then rips the soldier's head from his neck._**

"He was…quite literal" Allison pulled a face.

 ** _On a Saturday afternoon, Mr. Yukimura is preparing his blackboard in the history classroom. He notices a fly buzzing around and, when it lands on his desk, he crushes it with a text book. Nogitsune/Stiles enters and comments on the teacher's dedication for working on the weekend. He is looking for Mrs. Yukimura's "tails" which are hidden inside a book in the classroom. The Nogitsune doesn't seem to understand how she was able to physically manifest her tails as daggers but he does know "the older the tail, the stronger the Oni" meaning the one she has left will summon the strongest of the demon warriors. Mr. Yukimura feigns ignorance but Stiles is confident that he will talk. He then lifts the textbook, the fly is alive and flies directly into Mr. Yukimura's mouth. He begins to cough and choke._**

"Oh God I'm killing him!" Stiles gasps in horror. "That's not you. It's the nogitsune" Scott corrects him. Stiles nods a little but doesn't meet his eye.

 ** _In Kira's room, she and Scott examine a picture of a woman and man from 1943. The woman looks exactly like Kira and they speculate that it might be her grandmother. Scott relates how the picture came to him through Malia Tate. It was taken from the body in the wall in the basement of Eichen House along with a Katana and scabbard or Saya. Kira's phone buzzes with a text, it's her father. They rush to the school and find Kira's mom trying to comfort her husband who is still choking on the floor where Stiles left him. Kira has brought with her a small vial that her mother says contains "reishi" which Kira describes as "magic mushrooms." The fungus does the trick and within a couple of seconds Mr. Yukimura coughs up a black fluid and is fully recovered._**

"Magic Mushroom" Derek snorted.

 ** _Mrs. Yukimura's first name is revealed for the first time as Noshiko. She says Stiles was after the last of her Kaiken or daggers but that she has kept the final one near her ever since Stiles first disappeared. Kira shows her the picture and asks if it is her grandmother. Noshiko admits that the picture is of her._**

"THAT'S HER!?" Allison said in shock. "Damn need to ask her what she uses to stay so young" Lydia said to herself.

 ** _Back in 1943, Hayes, Merrick and Corporal Rhys are offloading supplies at Camp Oak Creek. They come up one crate of apples short and we see a young Noshiko Yukimura is deftly stealing the supplies from the truck unseen by the soldiers. Scott is confused. For Kira's mom to be in the photo in 1943, she would have to be "like 90 years old." Noshiko says her actual age is closer to 900 years old._**

"900!? I knew kitsune's had long lives but that's just absurd" Talia mumbled.

 ** _Kira is shocked but rolling with it. She turns to her father and asks his age. He says 43, but adds that he's told he looks mid-30s._**

"The whole Yukimura family is pure entertainment here" Peter laughed.

 ** _Kira hands off the katana to her mother. She opens the scabbard and the broken pieces of the sword fall out. She explains that the blade was shattered the last time it was used against a Nogitsune in 1943. Scott points out that history is repeating itself. Mr. Yukimura quotes Spanish philosopher George Santayana, "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." Kira wants to know where the dark spirit came from and Mrs. Yukimura says it started at a Japanese Internment Camp called Oak Creek not too far from Beacon Hills. Scott reminds Mr. Yukimura that he told Allison and Isaacthat there was no such place. He admits he lied saying he didn't know if he could trust Allison since the Argents have a reputation for violence._**

"Rude" Allison huffed. "You have Gerard and Kate in your family. And let's not forget your mom" Derek added with a raised eyebrow. "You have a point" Allison said with a scowl.

 ** _Noshiko says the history of the camp was erased in a cover-up. Mr. Yukimura says he became obsessed with finding the truth of Oak Creek when he was in Grad School. It was his research that led him to meet his wife. Noshiko admits that ultimately the Nogitsune came from her._**

"WHAT!?" almost the whole room shouted in unison.

 ** _Inside one of the barracks at Oak Creek, a woman is handing out the apples Noshiko stole from the truck earlier. She warns the other prisoners to keep their voices down because if the guards hear they'll get nothing. Noshiko give a baseball she stole from soldier Hayes to Michio, a young boy. The cautious woman chastises Noshiko for stealing the baseball, knowing it could cause trouble. Noshiko turns to an older woman named Satomi who is playing a board game called "Go" saying that she can "feel" her glaring._**

"Is that Satomi!?" Laura's jaws dropped. "Who is Satomi?" Scott asked. "One of the oldest Alpha's alive. Now we know she was older than 900" Talia mumbled.

 ** _Satomi says Noshiko steals too often and too much and refuses to be swayed when offered a full bottle of aspirin, despite her "monthly migraines." There follows here some subtext with Satomi saying that Noshiko thinks her a fool and a coward for following the rules. Satomi says the young fox learns the rules so she can break them while the older, wiser animal learns the exceptions to the rules. At that moment Michio's ball goes flying through the window pane shattering the glass. Everyone panics and hides the stolen goods. Soldiers Hayes, Merrick and Corporal Rhys respond to the noise. Merrick says there were supplies stolen. He begins to touch one of the female prisoners, suggestively searching the pockets of her dress._**

"Creep" Laura growled.

 ** _Hayes begins searching the bunks but Rhys stops them. He says the prisoners are to fix the window and delays the search for the stolen goods until the next day. Before he exits, Rhys returns the baseball to Michio. To Noshiko, Satomi says "jigoujitoku" which she translates as "you reap what you sow." The phrase usually has a negative connotation meaning you will receive the results of your past actions._**

"Not foreshadowing at all" Stiles rolled his eyes.

 ** _In the present, Noshiko is trying to get her daughter to help her reassemble the katana. She says it has to be done in the daylight. Kira refuses until her mother tells them "everything." Mr. Yukimura urges his wife to tell them but she stubbornly brings up how wolves and foxes don't get along. Mr. Yukimura counters saying allies, however unlikely, should always be welcomed in times of war._**

"Mr. Yukimura is wise" Talia smiled. "He is like one of those wise old Asian dude characters in a movie" Isaac joked.

 ** _Corporal Rhys and Noshiko meet in the motor pool at the camp. They are in love but Rhys warns her not to steal so much, "especially medical supplies." He then gives her chocolate and they kiss. Kira stops the narrative saying she doesn't want to hear her mom's "Casablanca story" anymore._**

The teens all snorted but nodded, they themselves were not ever going to be interested in their parents love story if it was them.

 ** _Scott says she is stalling because once darkness falls the Oni will return to hunt Stiles. Scott isn't convinced that Stiles can't be saved despite both Yukimura's assurances that he is lost to them. Noshiko is helping Rhys learn French for his transfer to North Africa when they overhear Merrick and Hayes talking to the camp's doctor. Money changes hands but it's unclear why. Back in the present, Noshiko has clutched a piece of the broken sword so tightly that her hand begins to bleed. But when she opens her fist, her hand is healed. She says it's part of being a Kitsune and points out that Kira never gets sick. In 1943, this part of her makeup protects her when bacterial pneumonia sweeps through the Oak Creek camp. Rhys learns that the camp is all out of M &B Sulphapyridine which effectively treats the disease. Noshiko remembers seeing three boxes of the drug when she was stealing stuff but Rhys says the Doctor is claiming they only got one. They realize that the doctor, Merrick, and Hayes have been stealing the drugs and selling them on the black market._**

"Those bastards" Melissa growled. She herself being a nurse took this certain offense to heart.

 ** _Michio, the boy from earlier, dies. His father is distraught. Upon learning what happened to the life-saving medicine the inhabitants of the camp riot. They surround the Doctor's car as he is trying to leave the camp. Satomi, as it turns out, is a werewolf and becomes so angry that she loses control and attacks the soldiers. Noshiko says bitten werewolves have a harder time maintaining control._**

"I never thought I'd see Satomi-San as a beta" Talia mumbled.

 ** _Michio's father lights a Molotov cocktail, Satomi takes it from him and throws it. It strikes Rhys and he is burned alive. The other soldiers open fire killing dozens of people. Rhys is taken to Eichen House for treatment but dies. Noshiko is shot several times. While her healing ability is able to save her life, it takes time to rid her of the bullets and her vital signs drop so low everyone believes she is dead. Her body is taken with the others to be burned to cover up the evidence of corruption at the camp. As she is being transported atop the pile of other bodies, she calls out to the spirits of her ancestors. She wants a Nogitsune to inhabit her body so that she can seek vengeance for all the death at the camp. Instead the trickster spirit inhabits Rhys' dead body which is lying next to her in the back of the truck._**

"So it was all revenge!?" Stiles asked incredulously. "To be fair, she did see all her people get murdered and lost her love" Scott mumbled and held Allison close. Stiles shrugged and looked back at the screen.

 ** _Just before Merrick and Hayes can destroy the evidence, the Nogitsune rises up and kills them, takes their truck and kills everyone at the camp and at Eichen House. Noshiko confronts the spirit and attempts to kill it with her katana but she is only able to get the upper hand with the help of werewolf Satomi who attacks it from behind._**

"And she said Wolves and Fox's tend not to get along" Laura rolled her eyes.

 ** _They kill the Nogitsune's host, a fly comes out of his mouth and Noshiko catches it, puts it in a jar and buries it under the Nemeton, which was still a full tree in 1943. She says the dark spirit remained buried until Scott, Allison, and Stiles did the surrogate sacrifice to save their parents and recharged the Nemeton._**

"So we set the thing free" Allison mumbled. Stile sighed and looked back down at his feet, in the end it was still his fault.

 ** _They piece together the katana and Noshiko says Kira can use her foxfire to make the sword whole again because she is a "Thunder Kitsune". Her mother gives it to her and says she must use it to get rid of the Nogtisune. Scott gets a text to meet the others at Derek's Loft. Deputy Parrish doesn't want to return Chris Argent's cattle prod stun weapon saying it's "a few watts" shy of a lightsaber. The sheriff says he'll handle the situation since murder charges have been dropped against Argent and Derek Hale._**

"Even deputy pretty boy has seen Star Wars!" Stiles groaned at Scott.

 ** _Sheriff Stilinski says he's compared the brain scans of his wife and son and found them to be identical which is impossible. They all realize that the "trickster is still playing tricks" and that Stiles recent scans are fake. The Sheriff says the Nogitsune is trying to take away their hope. He realizes that they are not just fighting for Stiles' body but for his mind as well._**

Noah gritted his teeth, his fists curling up in anger. Claudia wanted to calm his husband down, but she too was angry at that moment.

 ** _He needs the hunter and the werewolf to help him capture Stiles. At the Argent's apartment, Allison has gathered up all the "non-lethal" weapons she could find. Their original plan is to try to pick up Stiles scent at Eichen House and then track him. They realize that the Nogitsune is just trying to get them to repeat their actions from the last time he disappeared. He wants them running in circles until they walk into his trap. The Sheriff gives everyone the opportunity to back out. Derek says he won't be the first wolf to run from a fox. Argent points out that he has a "lightsaber."_**

"That's my brother!" Laura patted Derek on the back.

 ** _Allison sends Derek and her father to Eichen House while she and the Sheriff head to the hospital. They plan to all meet later at the school. Despite what he said to Stilinski about trying to "trap" Stiles, Argent takes two fully loaded semi-automatic pistols with him as well._**

Noah turned an angry look towards Chris, but before he could say anything, he felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked to his side to see that it was Stiles and he was shaking his head. "Dad, it's for the best. I'm pretty sure you would need that if the fox had taken over fully" he said in a whisper. "No!" Noah protested, "There has to be some other way" he said. "It is the other way. If we can't save him" Chris explains. Noah nods and shrinks into himself while Claudia sobs. Stiles pulls both his parents into a hug, sitting in between them and tries to comfort them.

 ** _At the hospital with Stilinski, Allison breaks down. She questions everything saying she doesn't know if Isaac is dying. She also wonders if she made a mistake with Scott and she also doesn't know if she can trust Derek. The Sheriff hugs her and says she sounds like a cop. The Sheriff's phone buzzes. He's installed security cams and motion sensors to alert him to Stiles' sleepwalking. The image on the Sheriff's phone is of Stiles sitting on his bed at home. He waves at the camera. Argent, Derek, Allison and Stilinski meet in Stiles' room. Apparently, Stiles rearranged the chess board he had once used to explain the supernatural to his father. Originally it was - Derek (black knight), Scott (black pawn) and Peter (black knight). Chris Argent (white knight), Kate (white pawn) and Allison (white knight). Jackson (white rook or castle) and Deaton (black rook or castle). In the new configuration, Ethan, Aiden and Isaac (all black pawns) have been added while Derek is now the black king. Isaac's pawn is off the board. Derek wonders why his name is on the king. The piece is heavily guarded on the board with Ethan, Aiden and Peter in defensive positions. The sheriff points out that he is one move from being in "checkmate" but the only piece shown close enough to place Derek's king in jeopardy is Allison's white knight. Chris says it's not a message from Stiles, it's a threat from the Nogitsune. Allison realizes he's waiting for them at the loft. The Sheriff says the Nogitsune won't kill them. He believes the killing is just a byproduct of the creature's tricks. He says the Nogitsune wants irony and that they have to change the punch line. The Sheriff walks into Derek's loft alone. Stiles turns and says "hi dad."_**

"That is not me!" Stiles growled, knowing instantly that the nogitsune was about to do something.


	51. 3-22

**_Scott and Kira race on Scott's dirt bike toward Derek's Loft. Sheriff Stilinski approaches Stiles and asks him to willingly put himself in handcuffs. Nogitsune/Stiles complies but then quickly breaks the cuffs._**

"Well that's a waste of good cuffs" Stiles frowned.

 ** _Allison, Derek and Chris enter and take turns attacking Stiles. Allison hits him with a Taser which Stiles catches and holds as electricity courses through the line. Derek attacks but is easily tossed aside._**

"Seeing the nogitsune fight like that in Stiles body actually makes him look cooler" Isaac snorted before he felt a pillow hit him in the face. Stiles blinked looking at Isaac who was leaning back in his seat and followed the direction from where the pillow came from to see Malia smiling. Stiles let out a small smile back at her.

 ** _Argent pulls his automatic pistol and levels it at Stiles. Nogitsune/Stiles feigns distress and begs his father to save him. Then turns to Argent and dares him to shoot him._**

"Oh that twisted fuck" Stiles growled.

 ** _Both Allison and Stilinski implore Argent not to shoot. Stilinski pulls his gun and points it at Argent's head demanding that he lower his weapon._**

Chris put his hand up when he saw Noah open his mouth, "I understand. If it was Allison, I would have done the same" he said with a small smile.

 ** _The sun begins to set. Scott is still enroute with Kira. Allison points out that this chaos is exactly what the Nogitsune wants but Stiles says it's not exactly what he wants because he'd hoped Scott would be there. Stiles says he is glad everyone has their guns out because he drew them to the loft not to kill him but to protect him. The Oni manifest and phase through the loft's large main window. Argent finds his gun won't fire, drops it and draws another but the gunfire has no effect on the demons._**

"I think we already established that the things cannot be killed by human means" Derek sighed.

 ** _We don't see the fight that follows. Scott and Kira arrive to hear gunfire from the loft but when he makes it up stairs the demons are gone as is Stiles. At some point during the fight, the Oni managed to slice into Derek's shoulder and back. Noshiko Yukimura enters the basement at Eichen House and makes her way to the wall where the body of Corporal Rhys is entombed. Stiles appears behind her and asks why she carved the kanji for "Self" into the wall. She says to signify that Rhys died as himself and not as a monster._**

"Only in death do we show our real face" Talia mumbled. "I wonder which face you showed sister" Peter said with a look at Talia.

 ** _It turns out that Noshiko called off the Oni at the loft. Stiles asks why and wants to know what happened to the woman who called out for chaos, strife, and pain to descend upon everyone and everything. Noshiko says she doesn't want that anymore. Stiles counters that he does and snatches away her dagger, her last "tail," and cuts into his own stomach._**

Noah, Claudia, Scott and Melissa wince in unison seeing the wound being inflected. Stiles though had no changes in his demeanor.

 ** _A swarm of flies comes boiling out, briefly surround Noshiko and then dissipate. Stiles is gone._**

Stiles twitches a little, "gross" he leaned forward and made hurling noises.

 ** _At the hospital, we hear buzzing and have a fly's-eye-view of Melissa McCall carrying a file down the hall. She places it in one of the holders attached to the wall and the fly lands on it. The file is that of Isaac Lahey. The fly takes to the air once more and goes into Isaac's room. His electrical burns have healed. The fly lands near the cannula and trocar needle that is delivering intravenous fluids into Isaac's arm. The bug crawls between the pieces of tape holding the gear in place and enters Isaac's body. His eyes fly open and flash golden yellow._**

"Oh gross I got invaded by a fly" Isaac shuddered.

 ** _Scott has taken Kira back to his house because she doesn't want to face her parents after learning the truth about her mother. He says she can have the bed and he'll sleep in the chair but she wants him to lay with her. After stating it explicitly twice, Scott gets the message and the two lay side by side. They kiss and cuddle as a fly lands outside on the window._**

"I'm sure they won't do anything. Don't worry" Lydia giggled seeing the look on Allison's face.

 ** _Allison and her father return home and she asks him if he would really pull the trigger on Stiles. He says he's not sure and then she admits that she'd removed the firing pin from this weapon which is why the first one misfired. He says that's why the women in the family are the leaders._**

Chris shook his head with a fond smile.

 ** _Isaac is waiting in Allison's room. He is not himself, acting distant and distracted. Allison says that giving him the alarm code was a bad idea. They kiss._**

"But I'm not sure whether those two wouldn't" Laura snickered.

 ** _Peter questions why Derek is messing about with chess pieces and why the gash on his back isn't healing. Derek says "it's from one of their swords" meaning the Oni and says it will heal. He then explains that he wants to figure out what Stiles' chessboard meant. Peter says that the Nogitsune is playing a game without rules. He goes on to explain that they're dealing with "the kind of spirit that's lived too long to play by human rules. It's a fox spirit that chose to become human and supposedly that's something they can do only after about a hundred years."_**

"Well he hasn't exactly become a human. He possessed one" Rafael corrected. Peter shrugged, "it's kind of the same thing here".

 ** _Peter describes the Kitsune as "an annoying pain in the ass" and says the Nogitsune, which is a dark Kitsune, is a frigging disaster. Just before he exits, he points out that Chess is Stiles' game – not the game of a Japanese fox._**

"That's a good point" Noah sat up straight. "Why is it a good point?" Allison asked curiously. "It means that Stiles is still in there" Scott explained with a grin.

 ** _A fly enters the loft, lands on Derek's wound and crawls inside him._**

"On the bright side, at least I'm not the only one getting invaded here" Isaac said. "Dude. Not a bright said" Laura deadpanned.

 ** _Danny and Ethan have been playing lacrosse at school. They enter the locker room discussing Ethan's prospects of joining the team "next spring" but Danny then questions if the other boy wants to make the team. Ethan halfheartedly says he does but then admits that maybe it's not working out for him and his brother in Beacon Hills. As Ethan scoops up water to splash on his sweaty face, a fly lands in his cupped hands and is carried along with the water. Ethan's demeanor suddenly changes. He becomes bitter about his brother and then demands that Danny take a shower with him. Danny looks happy to comply._**

"Please don't show that to us" Laura prayed silently.

 ** _Aiden is riding in Lydia's car. He's found a note that has Malia Tate's name on it. Lydia is listening to her GPS voice guide her to take the next right and then the next right until Aiden realizes they're going in a circle. He points out that her GPS isn't actually turned on. Lydia panics and pulls over into a parking lot. Stiles is lying, seemingly unconscious, on the pavement in front of them. They exit the car and as they approach Stiles, a fly lands on Aiden's ear and enters the canal just behind the tragus._**

"Okay so the nogitsune is now manipulating the Banshee side too? How!?" Lydia asked. "He is a trickster" Peter shrugged.

 ** _Allison awakes and Isaac is standing with his back to her in front of her large wall mirror. He is going through her bag of weapons. He questions her having them saying that he thought the new code was about protecting people. She points out that most are non-lethal. He holds up her Chinese ring daggers and says they look lethal. Then he says she should keep them because "some of us" are not so non-lethal "like the twins." Allison says they were going to give Ethan and Aiden a second chance and that things are different now. Isaac takes the bag of weapons and exits. Allison tries to follow but finds that Isaac has shackled her feet to the bed._**

"What kind of kinky bedtime were you two up to?" Lydia asked with a raised eyebrow. Allison blushed deep red and looked at Scott who looked uncomfortable.

 ** _Aiden and Scott carry an unconscious Stiles into the McCall living room and place him on the couch. Dr. Deaton, Melissa and Lydia follow behind. Melissa implores them to take Stiles to the hospital but Scott reminds her of the last time he was in the hospital. Deaton checks his wound and says he seems to be healing the way the werewolves do._**

"So I am the fox now" Stiles sighed. "We don't know that" Scott defended. "I'm healing like a supernatural. I'm pretty sure that's all the clue we need" Stiles sighs again.

 ** _Melissa calls the Sheriff to tell him what's happened but her ex-husband declines the call before the Stilinski can answer. Agent McCall says the Sheriff has to go to a preliminary hearing to determine if he keeps his job. Stilinski grabs his gun and badge, taking them with him "in case I'm turning them in."_**

"There is no keeping papa Stilinski away from his cub. Not even his job can do that" Laura grinned. Rafael looked to Noah who had an arm around Claudia. "Would I have done the same if it was Scott?" he thought to himself.

 ** _Aiden wants to kill Stiles. Barring that, he suggests they tie him down with really big chains. Deaton says he has something more effective. He produces a brown bottle of liquid from his doctor's bag. As Scott and Aiden hold Stiles' mouth open, Deaton places a few drops of the liquid on the tongue. Stiles awakes with a start and grabs Aiden around the throat. Slowly his grip loosens and he realizes that Deaton has slipped him paralyzing Kanima venom._**

"Wait! The only Kanima we knew was Jackson. Just how much venom did he take from him?" Lydia asked a bit worried. "The better question is how" Laura added with a snort.

 ** _Aiden is pissed. He growls at Stiles but the Nogitsune just issues a veiled threat about how twins get a feeling when one of them is in pain and says he hopes the twins "didn't lose that talent too." He then tells him that Ethan is at the school implying but not saying outright that he is in danger. Scott tells Aiden to go. Stiles then says he likes the twins because of their short tempers and homicidal tendencies. He says they are a lot more fun that Scott, who he calls a "bakemono, trying to save the world" all the time. Melissa asks if Deaton brought something to paralyze his mouth too. The doctor places black gaffers tape over Stiles mouth._**

"Finally someone did tit" Peter sighed happily then got hit with a pillow from Laura.

 ** _At the preliminary hearing, the leader on a panel of three says they want to discuss the Sheriff's successes and failures. Deaton says Stiles might be paralyzed but that it feels like he still has them right where he wants them. Allison calls her father saying she thinks Isaac is heading toward the School and she's following him. Chris says he is on his way but when he opens the door, Derek is outside waiting for him. He claims he needs to show Argent something and walks into the apartment._**

 ** _Derek throws down Talia's claws onto Argent's desk. He says it's all that left of his mother after "your psychotic sister burned her and the rest of my family alive." He then moves to attack Argent._**

"Stupid fox flies" Stiles grumbled.

 ** _At the McCall's, Melissa is tending to Stiles' wound. His mouth is still taped but he looks sad and a single tear rolls down his face. She removes the tape and the Nogitsune shakes his head at her saying that all it took was a single tear. He says she can't crumble that easily or "how you gonna hold up when Scott knows the truth."_**

"What truth?" Scott asked his mom. Melissa looked to Scott guiltily, "guess you'll find out" was all she said.

 ** _He goes on, in a truly cryptic manner, to suggest that whatever went down with Scott's father resulted in Melissa calling the sheriff and Stiles overhearing what happened. He never told Scott because he knew that Scott would never forgive his mother and how much he would hate his mother. Melissa returns the tape to Stiles mouth. The chairman of the panel at the preliminary hearing addresses the Sheriff as "mister" Stilinski. He points out that he hasn't yet been relieved of his title. He goes on to basically say that he's got better things to do than waste his time in their little hearing. Agent McCall then steps forward and says he wants to make a statement._**

"Hope you don't screw me over here" Noah joked. "I wouldn't need to" Rafael snorted.

 ** _Lydia, Scott and Deaton are brainstorming. Lydia points out that the scroll said to "change his body." Deaton worries that he may have translated it wrong or that the scroll might be a proverb or a metaphor. Scott worries that he might kill Stiles if he bites him in an attempt to turn him into a werewolf. Lydia says they need to call someone other than Derek to help. They call Peter who says Stiles doesn't look like he would survive a slap across the face and certainly not the bite of a werewolf. Peter says they're looking at it wrong; it's a war of the mind not the body._**

"That joke aside, Peter has a point" Derek pointed out. "I always do. Like I did about the Argents burning us to the ground!" he said the last part looking directly at his sister who didn't meet his eyes.

 ** _Danny is dressed and leaving Ethan at the door to the locker room, he asks if can tell coach that Ethan is trying out for the lacrosse team. Ethan says he'll think about it but Danny says that sounds like a "yes" to him._**

"Oh thank God he survived" the teens, mostly the lacrosse players sighed in relief.

 ** _Aiden is waiting in the shadows outside the locker room. They get into a fight about the fact that Scott doesn't trust them. Ethan says he'll probably cut them loose or put them down. He goes on to say that he'd probably be in the pack already if it wasn't for Aiden's violent tendencies. Just as they are coming to blows, Isaac shows up and shoots them with a super taser dart fired from a shot gun. Isaac points out that he should say something witty then decides he's not witty and just punches the twins with a the butt of the shotgun._**

"That was fun" Isaac rolled his eyes with a snort.

 ** _Peter and Lydia have struck a deal of some sort. Lydia agrees to his terms if Peter will help her and Scott enter Stiles mind. They plan to use the "werewolf claws to the back of the neck" thing that we've already seen can transfer memories. In this case, Scott plugs into Lydia and Stiles and they find themselves together inside Stiles' mind the goal is to find the real Stiles and bring him back. Isaac mumbles to himself about revenge for Erica and Boyd as he searches through Coach's office for a lighter. He's prepared a Molotov cocktail and lights the end of a handkerchief and takes the liquor-filled bottle out to the hall. He is surprised when the flaming cloth is ripped away by a katana. Kira is waiting in the hall with sword drawn._**

"What a way to spoil the party" Laura laughed.

 ** _He drops the bottle and begins advancing on Kira. Allison attacks from behind and hits him in the head with her crossbow. She calls his name but he completely wolfs out. The twins, now recovered, rise and attack Isaac while Kira and Allison lock themselves in Coach's office. At Argent's apartment, Derek has him tied to a chair and douses him with lighter fluid. He says that he'll burn his family just like the Argent's burned the Hales. He plans to wait for Allison before lighting him up._**

Derek shifts uncomfortably in his seat, "I.." he began but was interrupted by Chris. "I understand" he said.

 ** _Whatever Agent McCall said in the hearing, it saved Sheriff Stilinski's job. McCall admits that Beacon Hills is the "Bermuda Triangle" of "homicides, disappearances and strange occurrences" but that the real reason he came back wasn't to get Stilinski fired – it was so he could stay and talk to Scott. The Sheriff says McCall can't wait any longer and that he should grab Scott the first chance he gets and just tell him everything._**

"Tell me what!?" Scott asked his father this time. "You'' see" Rafael said and went silent, having flashbacks about a certain night.

 ** _Lydia and Scott arrive in Stiles' mind and find themselves strapped into beds with a modified "five point restraint" in a room that looks like Eichen House. Lydia reminds Scott that he's a werewolf but Scott is unsure if he still has his abilities since he's now inside Stiles' mind. She insists he try and he does manages to break them free. They try to exit the room together but are separated when the door slams shut. Lydia finds herself back in school during the winter formal in Formality just before Peter attacked her on the field. She is running through the school hallways surrounded by red, blue and silver balloons. She shouts for Jackson and sees the Nogitsune drawing the kanji for "self" on a blackboard._**

"Why here?" Lydia asks curiously. "It was a life changing and scarring event for you. Probably why" Laura shrugged.

 ** _Scott is suddenly in the closet at Allison's apartment in Currents. They're hiding from Allison's dad and she tells him he has to stay quiet. They make out. He begins to realize that something is wrong._**

"And why am I there?" Scott asked. "I can keep you occupied easily" Allison winked with a giggle.

 ** _In the real world, Lydia's nose begins to bleed. Peter kneels in front of her and screams her name. Inside Stiles' mind she hears him and begins to run. Scott also hears Peter. They both push through doors into the "white room purgatory" we saw first during the surrogate sacrifice. They meet up and see Stiles and the Nogitsune sitting on the Nemeton stump playing "Go" a Japanese board game._**

"Talk about a battle of minds" Peter raised an eyebrow.

 ** _Allison and Kira prepare to face the twins and Isaac. Kira manages to slash Ethan. Allison loses the upper hand with Isaac when she has trouble reloading her crossbow. She kicks him out of the way but then Aiden attacks. Kira tosses her the katana and the girls stand back to back prepared to take on all three werewolves._**

"That doesn't look good" Isaac mumbled. "gee, you don't say" Stiles said sarcastically and rolled his eyes.

 ** _Derek is rambling about how many werewolves Chris must have killed. Chris is calm and explains that he's been trained since he was a child and the first thing they do to train their kids is to tie them to a chair. He flips over backwards, breaking the chair and freeing himself. He grabs a weapon from under the desk and draws on Derek, placing the weapon right under his chin._**

"Go Dad/Daddy Argent" Allison and Lydia cheer in unison.

 ** _No matter how far Scott and Lydia run they never get any closer to Stiles. Lydia reminds Scott that Stiles is a member of his pack and that wolves howl to signal their position to the other members. Scott howls, Stiles hears him and upends the game sending the Nogitsune into a rage. This has the effect of releasing all his "puppets." Ethan, Aiden, Isaac and Derek collapse simultaneously each has a black viscous liquid pouring from their mouth and nose._**

"You two did it" Stiles cheered.

 ** _Lydia and Scott snap back to reality. Peter hastily forces Lydia to tell him the name of his child, she gives him Malia's name. Stiles begins to cough. He rips the tape from his mouth and begins to vomit a long strand of gauze bandage until there is a sizable pile on the floor of the McCall family room._**

"Oh gross" Stiles gags.

 ** _Suddenly black smoke issues forth and a hand reaches out of the gauze; it appears to be the bandaged hand of the Nogitsune. Stiles watches in horror as the figure crawls out of the bandage covered floor until it is fully formed. The figure lunges forward and Scott and Peter rush to hold him down but Scott senses something and tells Peter to wait. Removing the bandages from the creatures head - they find Stiles, the real Stiles, underneath._**

"Well that was a twist" Noah mumbled. "Wait who is looking after the fox?" Melisa asked.

 ** _They realize the Nogitsune, which also still looks like Stiles, has fled and taken Lydia with him._**

"No one. And he got Lydia" Stiles groaned.


	52. 3-23

**_In the shower at school, Dr. Deaton removes the Nogitsune flies from the twins and Isaac by sticking his fingers down their throat and removing them by hand._**

"At least he wore gloves" Isaac laughed nervously.

 ** _Deaton says there are now two Stiles' and one of them took Lydia Martin. Melissa gives Stiles a medical exam as he is resting on Scott's bed. She checks his pupil reactions with a penlight and reluctantly holds his wrist to check his pulse. She says Stiles seems normal physically but he is concerned that he's not really himself. Scott helps Stiles downstairs where Noshiko Yukimura is waiting. Kira rushes in and tells her mom to stop but it's too late. Two Oni appear in the McCall's living room and quickly grab the back of Stiles' neck._**

Stiles started to fidget seeing this scene. "You're you again. They won't kill you" Malia said, her words coming out much softer than before. Stiles turned to her and nodded with a small smile, his fidgeting slowly stopping.

 ** _The demon's eyes glow firefly yellow and they let go. The Oni vanish as Stiles falls to the ground with the kanji for "self" burned into his neck. Noshiko explains that it is too close to dawn now for the Oni to find the Nogitsune and they won't be active until "tomorrow" night. In the tunnels under the old Oak Creek Internment Camp, Lydia hears the screams of all the people who died there during WWII. Nogitsune taunts her, asking if the voices are telling her that Stiles is dying. She flees down the tunnel seeking an exit but finding none. She defies the Nogitsune saying she won't tell him anything. He says she won't have to because she'll be screaming._**

"He is just saying that" Stiles quickly reassured his panicked looking parents. "I hope you are right son" Noah mumbled, squeezing his shoulder.

 ** _Noshiko explains the board game "GO" to Kira. Her daughter is frustrated that they are wasting time on a game when life and death hang in the balance. Noshiko points out that it's all just a game to the Nogitsune and that she must learn to play to understand what is going on and save her friends. Deputy Parrish tells the Sheriff to go home but he is waiting for word on Stiles and won't leave. They begin to discuss why the young officer chose to come to Beacon Hills. He says he was "drawn here" and he knew there were openings. Those openings created by Matt's deputy murder spree in. Parrish says he's not worried about the statistics._**

"Did he say he was 'drawn' here?" Lydia suddenly spoke up. "I'm sure it's just a figure of speech and nothing more" Allison reassured her. Lydia shook her head, "when is it ever nothing when it concerns Beacon Hills?"

 ** _The Sheriff prepares to go home when Stiles and Scott arrive. Father and Son embrace. The sheriff wants to know if it's over. Scott says "not yet." Derek comes to see Chris Argent. He questions why, when the former hunter had the chance, he didn't shoot him. Argent says they're not enemies anymore. He then points out that if the Nogitsune is able to pull off a stunt like having the werewolves go crazy then he will likely be coming for them. The Sheriff is trying to wrap his head around the current situation, wondering what the Nogitsune would need with a Banshee. Stiles speculates that perhaps he needs her talent to find a dead body. The Sheriff turns to Scott saying he got the "whole story" from Noshiko. This triggers Stiles' memory of Meredith talking on a dead phone line at Eichen House. Deputy Parrish calls Eichen House and finds out that "Meredith Walker" is still there but has been moved to the "Closed Unit" because she wouldn't stop screaming._**

"Definitely a banshee" Lydia said with a not so impressed look on her face.

 ** _At Eichen House, The head orderly, Brunski, opens up the high security area of the facility for the Sheriff. He jokes about quieting Meredith with Haldol but when they make it to her cell they find she's turned the tables, injected the orderly with the drug, and escaped._**

"Just how useless can these shit heads be?" Noah groaned.

 ** _Ethan and Aiden are running through the woods, trying to pick up Lydia's scent. They hear a round being chambered into a gun. They take off running as bullets begin to ping off the rocks and trees around them. They both take several bullets and fall. Aiden is unconscious. Ethan quickly realizes that the bullets are laced with Wolfsbane. He is pinned down but manages to get to his brother._**

"Guess their past caught up with them" Scott mumbled, his mind taking a different route of thought. Allison took one look at Scott and put a hand on his cheek, "you did no mistake in not taking them in. They weren't trustworthy then" she said softly. Scott sighed, "what if I had taken them in? They could have been kept safe from these hunters" he said with a sigh. Allison shook her head, "No, it would have put us all in risk or worse" she said softly and Scott nodded.

 ** _Isaac and Allison find Lydia's new car abandoned in a locked parking lot. Isaac breaks the lock on the gate and they look for clues around the car. Isaac says he smells anger. During their investigation, Allison questions if Isaac remembers the night they had sex. She worries that he was possessed during the encounter but he says it was actually him and not the Nogitsune fly when they were together. Allison, remembering a trick that she and Scott used to communicate, breaths onto the driver's side window of the car revealing the words "DONT FIND ME" in the condensation, traced by someone's finger._**

"Now that is just going to make them look for you more" Peter said with a sigh.

 ** _Coach Finstock is pissed. He is shouting into his phone in front of the class expressing his dismay that the bill for his recent hospital visit, the one to remove an arrow from his stomach, will cost $10,000._**

"10,000$ for that!? What did they do? Fill the hole with diamonds?" Laura asked in shock.

 ** _He turns to the class ready to launch into an indictment of the entire US healthcare system when Danny points out that they have a visitor in class. Meredith is sitting in the back row._**

"On a bright side, we found Meredith" Stiles said with a grin.

 ** _Stiles has fallen asleep on the McCall's living room sofa. He awakes with a start, panicked. Scott is there to reassure him, saying he won't let him out of his sight. Scott says the Sheriff is questioning everyone at Eichen House about Meredith and everyone else is out looking for Lydia. Stiles is freezing. He puts on his jacket explaining that he just can't seem to get warm. When Scott touches Stiles hand, his werewolf pain absorption ability kicks in automatically. Stiles says it's not really pain, more like a dull ache all over, but he is lying._**

"Just how much pain could he be in?" Scott asked. "He just got exorcised from a demon fox. It's gonna be a hell for him for a while" Derek said.

 ** _Kira calls Scott and explains that Meredith is at school. Coach questions her asking from which "insane asylum" she escaped. When Danny points out that "insane asylum" isn't the proper term, Coach asks which "nut house" and Meredith answers Eichen House. When she speaks the students who had gathered around to watch, all take a step back._**

"God I don't know whether to love or hate this guy" Laura laughed at the Coach's antics.

 ** _Coach asks why she is so far from where she's supposed to be. She says she's trying to help. She further explains that she is hearing screams. Coach asks why they scream and Meredith explains that they scream when someone is about to die. Coach asks how many are screaming and she says "all of them."_**

"More bad news" Lydia sighed.

 ** _Ethan is helping Aiden as they continue to try to find shelter in the woods. Derek arrives, picks up Aiden and tells Ethan to run as more bullets smash into the trees nearby. Brunski and two other Eichen House orderlies arrive at school. Kira begs Coach to stop them from taking Meredith because if he doesn't stop them then "really, really bad things are going to happen to Lydia, to Scott and Stiles and maybe everyone including you." Coaches response is "who are you?" Kira explains that she's new._**

"Typical coach" Isaac laughed.

 ** _Coach sees Brunski and is immediately uncomfortable. The orderly calls him by his last name and makes cracks about him being just a teacher. Coach is cowed by the man assuming the posture of one who is bullied. Coach opens the door to his office to hand over Meredith but she is already gone. Allison is dismantling the sight on her large crossbow in the weapons storage area/workshop of the Argent's apartment building. She tells her father that she is just trying to keep busy. He gives her a bar of silver and tells her it's time for her to graduate._**

"Congrats" Scott said with a grin and kissed her cheek. Allison grinned, a blush on her face. She looked to her father who was smiling proudly at her.

 ** _Under Oak Creek, Lydia finds every exit blocked by bars. Nogitsune tries to further demoralize her by saying Scott and the rest are chasing useless leads or dealing with bigger problems. He wants her to question if they are really looking for her or just sitting around doing pointless things waiting for nightfall. He then explains that his existence is all about hunger. He says the trickster stories are all about food, "the coyote, raven, fox - they're all hungry." He says he is the same but he craves something different. He says he eats what Lydia feels and he is "insatiable."_**

"That thing is making me look like a creep" Stiles mumbled.

 ** _Meredith has found her way to the Beacon Hills High School Music room and is plucking the strings of the grand piano. She hears whispers as the note dies away. She doesn't see Brunski enter the room behind her. She tells the invisible chorus that she can hear them but can't understand them. Brunski interrupts her by triggering his taser and says it's time to go, but she says she needs just another second because they're trying to tell her something. Brunski is about to attack when Coach arrives, grabs the taser, and turns it back on the orderly. He says the school has a strict "No Bullying" policy and drives the taser into Brunski's shoulder. Meredith leaves with Scott, Stiles, and Kira while Coach shocks Brunski again._**

"Go Coach!" Scott laughed.

 ** _Once they're safely in Stiles' Jeep, both he and Scott turn to Meredith and ask about Lydia's whereabouts. Her only reply is "who's Lydia?"_**

"There goes that hope" Lydia mumbled. "don't worry Lydia" Stiles turned to the strawberry blonde, "we'll find you before creepy me can do anything to you" he grinned. Lydia nodded with a soft smile and for some reason, felt her cheeks heat up slightly.

 ** _Chris and Allison are handling molten silver. Chris explains that Allison can start over if she wants. He admits that he was a bit of a perfectionist. He removes his silver bullet and shows her how he wanted to make sure the seals looked "just right." He says he made six bullets but used them all. He then points out that Silver should be used at close range because, despite the legends, it's not as accurate as lead. Allison decides to make an arrowhead instead of a bullet because her weapon is the bow. She then takes a moment to say all the things she didn't get to say to her mom before she died. That she loves him and is proud of her father and of what they've accomplished together._**

"I have a bad feeling" Lydia thought to herself.

 ** _Stiles, Scott and Meredith arrive back at the McCall House to find Scott's dad waiting with Isaac. They claim they have a free period at school and came to the house to study. Agent McCall asks about Meredith and Stiles claims she is his girlfriend. Meredith quickly says Stiles is "not my type" but says Isaac is her type. Then Isaac, Stiles and Meredith beat a hasty retreat to Scott's room while he remains below to talk to his father._**

"Turned down by a crazy chick. Man oh man" Isaac laughed. "Don't talk too much. Crazy chicks dig you" he said with a scowl making Isaac laugh harder.

 ** _Meredith realizes that Lydia is "the red haired girl." She says Lydia told her she doesn't want to be found. Agent McCall shows him an indent in the floor and confesses to his son that, during a drunken argument with his mother, he accidentally knocked Scott down the stairs. He lost consciousness for 20 seconds and came to with no memory of the incident. It was the last time his father took a drink and he left the family the next day._**

Scott blinked at that and growled to himself, his anger slowly building.

 ** _Scott seems angrier at his father after learning the truth. He points to all the other places in the living room where he's been hurt in accidents over the years and says that he healed and doesn't need his father's apology. He leaves him with "see you at graduation or whenever you decide to show up again."_**

Seeing himself have a talk with his dad, Scott took deep breaths and calmed himself. Rafael looked at the screen and felt his heart break. He had missed out on so much and now his son has lost faith in him. He sighed internally, intending to talk on it later.

 ** _Derek takes the twins to a coyote den to hide. He wants to know who might be after the twins, Aiden says they pissed off everyone and it was only a matter of time until they caught up with them. Derek leaves to get help. Isaac wants to scare Meredith to get her to help. Stiles says no. Realizing that Meredith may also be a Banshee, Stiles and Isaac try to get her to listen to the voices. Instead she hears a phone ringing. Stiles hands her his phone, she listens for a second then says "coup de foudre." Scott instantly recognizes the phrase from Noshiko's story and knows where to find Lydia. At the Yukimura's home, Kira is looking for her mother but her father says he doesn't know where she is but does know that Noshiko is trying to keep her daughter out of the fight as long as possible. He acknowledges that the life of a Kitsune is going to be very difficult because Kira has a lot to learn in a very short time. She scoffs and says "like board games?" He explains that GO is called Baduk in Korea and that there are different styles of play. He lists them as "aggressive, passive, orthodox." He says he knows Kira's are the black pieces on the board because the novice always goes first. He says the white pieces are laid out in the style of her mother, "aggressive." Kira says Noshiko put the stones down to represent the Nogitsune. Her father seems concerned realizing that the two styles are identical._**

"So two foxes think alike. Big deal" Isaac mumbled. "It kinda is. Since they think alike, that female fox knows what the nogitsune might be planning and vice versa" Peter explained.

 ** _Allison finishes her arrow but says something is missing. Her phone rings and Scott tells her they know where Lydia is being held. Noshiko and five Oni break through the gates of Oak Creek. Derek and Argent bring the twins to the loft. They are still bleeding black goo from the wolfsbane bullets. Derek shows the former hunter a shotgun shell he found at the scene of the shooting. Chris asks if they belong to the Spanish speaking woman who tortured Derek and then visited Argent in jail. Derek says they don't look like hers. Chris notices the marks surrounding the metal rim and primer and seems to recognize them. He is incredulous and says "it's not possible." Allison calls and explains that they've found Lydia. He begs her to wait but she says it's already night and there's no time._**

"No Allison wait for your father" Scott hisses. "Scott. Future me can't hear you" she giggles.

 ** _As Scott, Stiles and Isaac make their way to Oak Creek, only Isaac is willing to state the obvious. He says Stiles looks like he's dying all pale and thin and getting worse. The speculate that the Nogitsune is getting better and wonder if killing it will also kill the real Stiles._**

"That's a risk you guys will have to take. And no you guys are not sparing him because it might kill me" he further added seeing the look on everyone's faces.

 ** _Stiles says he doesn't care, he just doesn't want anyone else to die because of him. He says he remembers everything the Nogitsune did while it possessed his body. Scott says it's okay because it wasn't him but Stiles still remembers is. He makes them promise that they won't let anyone else get hurt because of him. Lydia is taunting the Nogitsune – saying he looks nervous because he knows they (the Oni) are coming and are going to kill him. He says that's why he's keeping her so close. Allison and Kira, - Scott, Isaac, and Stiles arrive at Oak Creek. Scott explains that they've been in the same situation before when they saved Malia Tate who was a total stranger. Now they're here to save Lydia. Isaac tries to break the tension with a joke saying he's just there because he didn't feel like doing homework._**

"Trust Isaac to make the environment less heavy" Stiles laughed, and was joined in by Scott and Isaac himself.

 ** _Kira's mom, flanked by two Oni, tells her to go home. Kira says when she looked at the game she realized she was actually playing her mother suggesting that the Nogitsune is in some way part of Noshiko. Stiles and Scott run down the concrete corridors beneath the camp. Scott can smell Lydia. Allison draws on one of the Oni and demands that Noshiko call them off. The older woman mocks them saying "you think you can take him alive? You think you can save him?" She says she tried that 70 years ago and that "your friend is gone." Kira counters that her mother just doesn't want to admit that if Stiles doesn't have to die then maybe Rhys didn't have to die in 1943._**

"Ouch right in the feelings" Laura hissed.

 ** _Noshiko says she is no longer the fox. She says Kira is the fox but that the Nogitsune is still "my demon to bury." The Oni disappear. Nogitsune takes Lydia through the bars into a massive concrete cylinder. Lydia again taunts him saying that the Oni are going to kill him. He says "good." He then takes out Noshiko's dagger and says that he brought Lydia with him so that he would know when the Oni were close enough to kill him._**

"He wanted to know about his own death? But why?" Isaac mumbled.

 ** _Five Oni appear in the cylinder. The nogitsune breaks the dagger. Above ground Noshiko looks startled. She opens her hand to find a firefly there. It quickly disappears in a puff of black smoke. Stiles appears with the Oni. He says the firefly signifies a change in ownership and that the Oni belong to him._**

"That is why" Stiles groans.

 ** _Kira fights the Oni with her katana, Isaac with his claws, and Allison fires arrow after arrow. Stiles and Scott reach Lydia. She keeps repeating no, no, no! She is amazed and asks if they got her message telling them not to come. She's frantic to know who else is with them. Isaac calls to Noshiko asking how to stop the Oni. She says they cannot be stopped. When Isaac turns back one of the demons slices across his chest. Scott, Lydia, and Stiles race to the surface but Stiles is weakened and falls behind. Lydia remains at his side as Scott continues running._**

"no no" Claudia mumbled in horror.

 ** _Two Oni are slicing at Isaac. Allison draws her bow and, just before what would have been the death blow for Isaac, fires at the Oni. The arrow sticks in the demon's chest and the firefly light begins to shine around it. The ground begins to shake as Oni disappears in a mass of black smoke._**

"Holy shit you did it!" Stiles exclaimed in delight. "You did it!" Scott grinned and kissed Allison in happiness and held her close. Chris watched his daughter, pride evident on his face and eyes.

 ** _Allison smiles but as she turns another Oni runs her through with its sword._**

And just like that whatever happiness they were feeling evaporated into nothing.

 ** _Lydia feels the blow and screams in the tunnels under the base. Scott rushes out and catches Allison as she falls. The Oni disappear. Kira rushes to her mother's side. Alison is concerned about Lydia. Scott says he found her and she's okay. He grabs her hand but cannot take her pain. Allison says that's because it doesn't hurt._**

Chris stared at the screen, eyes wide in horror and his jaws clenched hard. He looks to his side to see that Allison was in shock and so was Scott. He pulled Allison to him and hugged her like she was going to disappear from right beside him. Allison was too shocked to react and just leaned into him.

 ** _Allison says it's perfect because she is in the arms of her first love, the first person she ever loved, the person she'll always love. She says "I love you."_**

Scott gritted his teeth, tears rolling down his cheeks as his mother hugged him close and tried to comfort him.

 ** _Just before she dies, she frantically repeats "you have to tell my dad!" over and over. Nogitsune and the Oni leave. Scott kisses her forehead. Stiles is unconscious and Lydia is crying. Isaac is rocking back and forth on the ground as Chris arrives at the gates to Oak Creek._**

By the end, not one eye was left dry. Everyone was silently mourning the loss of the young huntress. Even Peter Hale and Malia Tate had wet eyes.


	53. 3-24

The group did not continue another episode on that day. Neither did they go for the next day. The loss had hit them hard, the hardest though were Chris and Scott. Chris was mourning over the loss of his only child while Scott over the loss of his love. It was not till Allison reminded them that the future could be changed that the group resumed their watch.

 ** _Chris Argent coaches Scott on what to say to the police about Allison's death. They concoct a story in which two guys wearing masks tried to steal their car. He is to say he thinks one of them had a knife, something sharp and metallic. Overall, he is to just keep repeating "it all happened so fast." Scott wonders how Argent is able to focus and deal so calmly with his daughter's death. Chris simply says "it's what we do."_**

Chris clenched his fists tightly. As a hunter, they are always taught to reign in their emotions. But this was his daughter, his only child. He himself was surprised at how well he was controlling himself.

 ** _As Deputy Parrish questions Lydia, Scott, and Isaac at the Sheriff station, they all stick to their story. The Yukimuras have taken Stiles to their home where he is offered chamomile tea. Kira, her father and her mother discuss the fact that Allison managed to kill an Oni. None of them is sure how she did it or how it could be possible. Noshiko explains that the Nogitsune made a powerful move when he split from Stiles' body. Mr. Yukimura says at this point they need a divine move. One so inspired that it reverses the fate of the game and turns a losing position into a winning one. They explain that the Nogitsune has had "Sente" or the upper hand throughout the game and Stiles needs to turn the game around. Kira reminds her mother of the time she trapped it. They realize it was the power of the Nemeton that held the Nogitsune for so long and decide to ask Deaton if they can trap it again._**

"Without the tree there, I don't think that would be possible" Peter mumbled.

 ** _Isaac accompanies Chris Argent to his apartment. Chris says he doesn't have to stay because he'll be alright. Chris says he's dealt with it before and he can compartmentalize his emotions. Isaac says that he cannot and he and Chris embrace._**

Allison sighed sadly and hugged her father who hugged back fiercely.

 ** _At the Sheriff's Station, Stilinski instructs Deputy Parrish to keep Allison's death quiet to avoid the press hounding her friends. The Oni appear and immediately kill another deputy._**

"And the chaos begins" Laura sighs.

 ** _Derek uses a zippo lighter to cauterize Ethan's wounds at the loft. He says they'll be fine in a couple of hours unless whoever shot them manages to find them again. Aiden is eager to find Lydia and leave Beacon Hills. Derek says she'll never leave Scott. Aiden says they all need to run and hide. Ethan wants to take Danny too but Derek says he'll never believe him. Plus, he says, Scott's friends will never leave his side. Derek explains that the twins don't understand Scott. While they've been trying to be a part of his pack by fighting for him, Derek says they should have been fighting for Scott's cause. Scott's cause has always been to protect his friends. He will do anything and everything to save the people he cares about. "When there is no chance of winning, he keeps fighting. When all hope is lost, he finds another way. When he's beaten down, he stands up again." Derek says if the twins want a way to redemption they must find another way to stand and fight._**

"You have great respect for him" Talia whispered to his son. Derek nodded his head slightly, "He reminds me a little of me before what I did to Paige. And also a bit of you too" he said in a whisper. Talia blinked then smiled at her son, rubbing his arm comfortingly.

 ** _Deaton isn't sure the Nogitsune can be caught the same way it was last time because, since the Nemeton was cut down, it doesn't have the same power anymore. The wood from the tree, however, does still exist in the form of boxes and other containers designed to hold powerful objects. Lydia wonders aloud if the "powerful object" might be the claws of an Alpha werewolf. She's thinking of the cylinder that contained Talia Hale's claws. Turns out, Deaton made that box from the wood of the Nemeton and thinks it would work._**

"So we found the prison. Now to plan on the capture" Stiles mumbled.

 ** _Nogitsune arrives at Beacon Hills Hospital and asks a nurse to page Melissa McCall. Before the man can act, two Oni appear and one stabs him in the gut. Chaos reigns in the hospital corridors as the Oni slice through nurses, doctors, and orderlies. The Oni at the Sheriff's station is lying on its back. As Sheriff Stilinski and Deputy Parrish maneuver to get a look, it jumps back up and attacks. Parrish and the Sheriff fire repeatedly but the two demons manage to cut them both. Their wounds release a black smoke._**

"This looks bad. Those smokes are not good signs" Talia bit her lips.

 ** _At the hospital, Agent McCall and Melissa are discussing Scott. He wants to run away again and wants Melissa to explain his exit and apologize for not saying goodbye. He then plans to send a follow up email. Melissa says "you're an idiot!" She explains that if "Rafe" wants a relationship with Scott, he can't just bail after one fight. Rafe believes Scott hates him but Melissa says he doesn't. She says her son just wants his father to try harder._**

Melissa looked at her husband coldly. She was hoping he would learn something from all this and be a part of Scott's life again.

 ** _The elevator lights flicker and the machine stutters to a stop. The doors open and two Oni are killing people in the hallway. They swing their swords at them and Rafe fires his weapon. He manages to get the doors closed but realizes that Melissa has a deep cut on the leg by one of the swords. The wound releases a thin black smoke. Isaac sits on Allison's bed holding one of her Chinese Ring Daggers. The same weapons Allison stabbed him with. Chris urges him to be careful and says Allison had to bandage her fingers when she was learning to use them because she had worn them raw. She did not give up though. Isaac tells Chris about Allison's last words believing that she was saying "you have to tell my father that I love him." Chris says that Allison made a point of saying it earlier on the night she died. He then begins to talk about their ritual of the silver bullet but Isaac is already aware of it. When he learns that Allison was making a silver arrowhead, he makes the leap that it was this that killed the Oni._**

"Silver?" Chris asked quietly to himself.

 ** _Derek calls Scott to say he has the "triskelion box" and will meet them at the school. Lydia is struck by a "rushing feeling" like they're running out of time. Kira helps Stiles into the room and he too says he has that feeling too._**

"Stiles is dying too" Scott suddenly says. Claudia and Noah both nod, holding onto their son. "Let's hope this works" Claudia mumbled.

 ** _Allison actually made five silver arrowheads, but only one was ready by the time she had to leave to meet Scott. She had drawn on her father's story of shattering the Oni mask and figured out that his silver bullet and her silver arrow could take down the demons. While the bullet went straight through – the arrow stayed in the body and poisoned it._**

"Silver poisoning. To think Silver actually do kill. Guess some lores do come from truths" Lydia mumbled.

 ** _Scott, Kira, Isaac and Lydia arrive at the school Stiles says they have to let him die if that's the price of killing the Nogitsune but Scott says the plan is to save Stiles and he's going with that plan. They push through the doors of the school and find themselves in a snow-covered Japanese Garden._**

"What the" Isaac blinked in confusion.

 ** _Melissa is fading fast. She says Scott's father has to try again. She says Scott doesn't want an apology – he wants his father to "do better" and maybe "suffer a little." She makes him promise that he will make it work with Scott. Rafe then helps her to her feet and they open the doors on a hallway filled with bloody bodies and the screams of the wounded._**

"I'll survive. You understand me?" Melissa told Scott, seeing the expression on his face. Scott nodded a little and hugged her.

 ** _Derek approaches the main stairs from out of the tunnel that leads to the athletic fields at the school. Nogitsune is sitting on the stairs as two Oni stand higher up and to either side of him. Derek sits the "triskelion box" on the pavement and the twins join him, all are showing fangs and fur. Nogitsune taunts him saying that he's heard of an "Alpha Pack" but not a pack of "former alphas." Derek says he might not be an Alpha anymore but he can still fight like one. He and the twins roar, the Oni swing their swords and the fight begins._**

"Well said" Peter smirked.

 ** _The snowy garden seems real. The Nogitsune, bandaged and bomber jacketed, enters doing an odd little moonwalk. He repeats his threat from Riddled that "we're going to kill all of them one by one." Oni begin to appear until there are four surrounding Scott, Kira, Stiles and Lydia._**

"This one is an illusion!" Stiles calls out. "The real one is outside. This one is an illusion" he says to the group looking at him.

 ** _The Nogitsune tell them they are "between life and death" which Lydia defines as "Bardo". The Nogitsune claims that Stiles is dying and everyone he cares about is dying too. He says he's captured all the "territories on the board" and names the hospital, the Sheriff's Station and the Animal Clinic. Deaton is attacked by two Oni. He fights well but ends up getting sliced before they vanish. The Nogitsune then explains Seppuku which is a suicide ritual in Japan. The creature explains how the samurai will stab himself in the stomach to disembowel but that it is the Samurai's trusted friend or "kaishakunin" who would then finish him off by beheading (kaishaku). The Nogitsune has cast Scott as Stiles' kaishakunin and says everyone will die unless Scott kills Stiles in this manner. Stiles asks him why and the creature says "to win the game."_**

"That's a sick way to win" Noah snarled. "What did you expect from a demon fox? A simle checkmate?" Peter rolled his eyes.

 ** _Melissa tells her ex not to leave Scott again. He says she told him to leave the first time but she clarifies that she "told a drunk to get out of the house. I didn't tell his father to get out of his life." Rafe says he came back to make it up to both of them. The garden is alive with the sound of Kira's katana and Scott's growls as they battle the four Oni as the Nogtisune watches. Outside at the school, Derek and the twins engage with two Oni as Nogitsune watches. As Aiden moves to pick up the "triskelion box" two more Oni appear to block him to which he says "I hate ninjas." Now the trio faces four Oni. Inside the garden, the four Oni begin to get the upper hand against Kira and Scott. Kira loses her katana in the snow. Rafe begins to panic, looking around the hospital corridor and calling for help after blood begins to seep from Melissa's mouth. Stiles manages to recover Kira's sword and makes as if to stab himself. The Nogitsune taunts Scott to let his friend fall on his own sword and urges Stiles to "give up the game." But, as Stiles stares into the reflective surfaces of the katana, he notices a "Business" textbook lying in the snow. He then catches sight of a snow-covered classroom desk in one corner of the garden. The Nogitsune says Stiles has no moves left but Stiles says he does. He tosses the sword back to Kira and says he has "a divine move."_**

"That sounds grand" Isaac rolled his eyes.

 ** _Ethan and Aiden continue to fight alongside Derek but they are losing ground. Ethan says Aiden should take the box to Scott while he and Derek hold off the demons. Chris Argent arrives and fires a silver arrowhead into one of the Oni – it explodes into black smoke. Isaac backflips into the fray and Nogitsune runs away. Derek yells for Isaac to grab the "triskelion box" and get it to Scott. Shaking with weakness, real Stiles tells Scott and Kira to stop fighting the Oni. He's come to the conclusion that none of what they are experiencing is real. He says it feels real and will hurt but it's all an illusion. The Oni line up and slash at all of them as they walk toward the door. Blood flows but all remain standing and push through to the Nogitsune. Scott pushes it back through the door and into the school hallway._**

"Called it!" Stiles cheered a little.

 ** _They are alone in the school. There's no more snow, no more Oni and no more Nogitsune. Scott thinks they've won until Nogitsune shoves him into a locker and knocks Kira down. Derek and Chris make short work of another Oni but the third target manages to slice the arrow away with its sword. Chris yells for Aiden to grab the arrow and stab the Oni because it is "the last one." Aiden succeeds but is run through by the demon's sword in the process. His werewolf blue eyes flicker before the glow leaves them. Ethan calls out to his brother as Aiden pulls the sword from his stomach and collapses._**

"Oh no" Allison gasped. "Losing a sibling is hard but if the sibling is a twin, then it's a whole another world of pain" Melissa whispered.

 ** _Nogitsune is pissed. He rushes toward Stiles and Lydia rambling. "Divine move, divine move, you think you have any moves at all? You can kill the Oni but me? Me? I'm a thousand years old! You can't kill me!" Lydia responds that they can change him. Reminding him of the scroll they took from Silverfinger's silver finger. Nogitsune remembers it says "change the host." Stiles says "you can't be a fox and a wolf" and Scott leaps up behind the Nogtisune and bites him on the arm. When he finally lets go, Kira stabs him through the heart with her katana._**

There was loud cheering from the people in the room.

 ** _Nogitsune screams, the lights flicker and a fly comes buzzing out of his mouth and flies down the hall. The "triskelion box" comes out of nowhere and Isaac, holding it, traps the evil fly inside. The Nogitsune body begins to twitch and jerk. Suddenly it stills and then begins to dry out and crack like clay, collapsing into a pile of dust on the floor which quickly dissipates to nothing. Melissa McCall snaps awake. Her wound now seems shallow and superficial. Deaton is fine too. The Sheriff and Deputy Parrish stand. Stiles collapses on the floor._**

"Oh God no" Claudia and Noah gasps in horror.

 ** _He awakes a few minutes later and jokes about fainting. He then declares "we're all alive" giving Scott pause because "all" isn't accurate. He doesn't say that though. He simply agrees that "we're all okay."_**

The parents sigh and hug their child. Stiles though was looking at Allison, "Allison I." but before he could finish, Allison just smiled and nodded her head, meaning she understood.

 ** _Lydia senses something is wrong and stands. Outside, Ethan joins his brother who is cradled in Derek's arms. Black goo is dripping from the wounded man's mouth. The brothers are crying. Aiden wants to know if it hurts Ethan as much as it does him. Ethan says it does. He laments that Lydia was never going to believe that he was one of the good guys but Derek says she'll believe him. Ethan places his forehead against his brothers and shushes him. Aiden dies and Ethan weeps. Lydia runs out of the school and sees what's happened. She turns back and is wrapped in Stiles arms. Later, at the Yukimura's home, Noshiko and her husband remove the stones from the GO board. Melissa comforts Scott. Isaac leaves the Argent's apartment with Chris. He has the "triskelion box" with him. Kira speaks to Lydia in the hallway at school saying she doesn't know how to comfort Scott and the other werewolves about their loss. She says she's still just the new girl. At that moment, Coach Finstock is showing Malia Tate around the school. Lydia says Kira won't be the new girl for long._**

"Guess I'll be seeing more you your group from now on" Malia said to Stiles with a smile which he returned.

 ** _Coach is trying to get Malia to run track saying she has "excellent muscle definition." Malia replies that she sometimes ran from cougars trying to eat her to which Coach says "got the same problem."_**

"I don't think Malia meant it the same way the coach did" Laura laughed.

 ** _Lydia catches Malia's gaze and they smile at each other. Later, in Scott's room, Stiles watches as Scott tries to teach Malia to "flick her claws" she manages it on the second try and almost slices Stiles._**

"Hey hey easy!" Stiles says to Malia who actually looked a bit apologetic.

 ** _Ethan is breaking up with Danny saying he just can't stay, but Danny surprises him by saying it's okay. Ethan suddenly realizes that he is the one being broken up with and asks why. Danny says that, while Ethan is incredibly good looking and smart and sweet, he just can't date a werewolf. Ethan is shocked but Danny explains with a "Dude, It's Beacon Hills." They kiss and Ethan leaves._**

"Danny knew" Scott laughed, joined in by the other wolves.

 ** _Stiles tears down the "evidence wall" in his room. His father asks what he's doing and Stiles replies "clearing my head." Deaton checks in on Scott who is tidying up the Animal Clinic. He explains "Regression to the Mean" which he says suggests that things will stop being all bad or all good and revert to a more neutral place eventually. This seems to comfort Scott but he says he's not sure it applies to a "town like this." Derek is with Stiles in the locker room at school recounting a "dream" he had or thinks he had. In it, the Spanish speaking hunters had tracked him to his loft and were once again demanding information about "La loba". Derek says he'll never tell them where Cora has gone but they're not talking about Cora. At that moment a smoke grenade flies in and the room fills with gas and the hunters begin firing wildly. They're taken out one by one, the assailant hidden by the smoke. Until finally all the hunters are down and the shotgun toting assailant steps out of the smoke and fires into Derek's gut. Derek explains to Stiles that there are a lot of myths about ways to be turned into a werewolf. He mentions the bite and drinking rainwater from werewolf's footprint. We then see the flashback of Kate asking Chris about being turned by a scratch, he says if the claws go deep enough. Then we see Peter Hale slash Kate's throat._**

"Oh no" the room groaned already getting where this talk was headed.

 ** _Derek says he's not sure it's a dream because he doesn't remember waking up. This is why he's come to Stiles to ask how he knows he's awake. Stiles has him do the finger counting thing. Stiles has five fingers and one thumb on one hand which suggests Derek is still dreaming. Derek is shot in the chest and drops to his knees on the floor of his loft. "It's real," he gasps. "You're real." Out of the smoke emerges Kate Argent. Her face goes all blue, her lips turn black, she grows fangs and her eyes take on a greenish hue._**

"That is not a werewolf" Peter pointed out with narrowed eyes.


	54. 4-0

Sky appeared in a bright flash of light and stood in front of the gathered party. _"You guys know how this goes. Who wants to stay and who wants to leave?"_

Isaac stood up from his seat and walked forward, "I feel like I had my fair share of adventures and that I would be leaving Beacon Hills now. So yeah send me back" he shrugged. Sky nodded before looking at Allison, _"And you?"_ he asked.

Allison fidgeted a bit, "I know I died and all that, but I want to stay. See the whole thing through till the end. Can I?" she asked with a pleading look. Sky nodded his head with a smile, _"Of course you can. So no one else huh? Very well. The next season will start the moment me and Isaac will disappear"_ he said and with a bright flash of light, both of them disappeared and the screen sizzled to life.

The first writing that appeared seemed like a message form Sky. _"Forgot to mention but you guys will be getting a few guests soon"_ the message faded and the show began.


	55. 4-1

**_A Mexican village sits high atop a mesa in the desert. Stiles and Lydia are walking cautiously through the town discussing "the stupidest plan we've ever come up with" and fearing that someone will get killed._**

"Then why do it in the first place!?" Laura shouted.

 ** _They approach a doorway but their entry is blocked by two men. Stiles shows a large card with a stylized skull on the front and the two teens are allowed to enter._**

"You guys. Went to see. The Calaveras!?" Chris hissed out through gritted teeth. "I guess?" Stiles said, not really sure where they were in the future. Chris sighed and rubbed his face.

 ** _They walk down a darkened hallway ending in front of two large wooden doors. They again discuss the foolishness of the plan but press ahead, opening the doors on a packed dance club. The music is loud, the lights are flashing and dozens of people are dancing. Stiles and Lydia are spotted by Severo who alerts someone by walkie-talkie. When the kids approach the bar, they are served two shots – Lydia says they didn't come to drink and drops a brass bullet casing stamped with the stylized skull image into the shot glass._**

"That was kinda cool" Stiles said with a grin and Lydia smiled.

 ** _Araya is using a small, curved blade as a seam ripper, intently working a piece of cloth as Stiles and Lydia sit quietly on the other side of the table from her. She comments on how Severo hates the music playing in the club but she loves the music of youth primarily due to its "savage energy." Lydia is all business, saying they know Araya has Derek and offering cash for his return. Stiles lays out $50,000 (US) on the table. Araya knows the money is from the stash taken from Silverfinger and says as much. Severo, and two other hunters cock their weapons. Araya says Stiles was not smart to come alone to which he says "what makes you think we came alone?"_**

"Hell yeah! The whole pack is there!" Allison cheered.

 ** _In the club we see Malia is dancing and Kira is sitting along the side of the dance floor._**

"Guess we roped you into our group too" Stiles laughed. Malia growled under her breath a little but did not say anything as she did not mind.

 ** _Araya is insulted, "You brought a wolf into my home?" Stiles says they brought an Alpha and we see in a darkened corner of the dance floor – Scott is red-eyed and ready._**

"I say that was way cooler" Allison grinned and kissed Scott on the cheek.

 ** _Hunters with walkie-talkies are searching the dance floor. Kira senses something is wrong and approaches the dancing Malia. Malia says they should blend in and tells Kira to dance with her. Kira is awkward and after a few seconds, Malia grabs the small of her back and pulls her closer. The pair grinds on the dance floor attracting the attention of the other patrons and drawing a small crowd in around them._**

"Things are getting a bit hot in there" Laura laughed. Malia just shrugged, seeing nothing wrong in what she was doing, it was just a dance.

 ** _Araya says the gang has poor timing and then pontificates about "the dark moon". Lydia explains that it's the part of the lunar phase when the moon is least visible in the sky. Araya wonders if they know what it means. Lydia says it's a time of reflection or grief. Araya seizes on the latter and says she wonders why, when Scott and the rest have suffered so much loss, they would risk it again for someone like Derek. Stiles says it because they don't like to lose._**

"You tell em" Scott grinned.

 ** _One of the hunters calls on the radio – they are checking in from various points in the club. The front door is clear as is the south section but there is no answer from the hunter stationed at the north end. Scott picks up the unconscious hunter's walkie-talkie and says "Stiles, take 10 off the table."_**

"And the negotiations start" Peter rubbed his hands together.

 ** _Stiles removes a stack of cash and Lydia suggests Araya should just take the deal. Araya says she's keen to follow the warning of a Banshee, but declines the offer. Two armed hunters have spotted Malia and Kira. The girls spot them too and prepare to fight. Kira takes out "glow stick Nunchaku" and they turn to defend themselves. They easily best the humans while Scott takes out another armed man. The three then go in search of Stiles and Lydia._**

"You guys have improved" Talia says, clearly impressed.

 ** _Stiles cracks jokes about how Araya doesn't want to keep a "downer" like Derek, saying he has "no sense of humor" and is a "poor conversationalist."_**

Derek glared at Stiles who shrugged, "I'm not wrong" he said. Derek let out a little growl and Stiles shut up.

 ** _Araya is not amused she grabs the radio and tells Severo to "show them how the Calaveras negotiate"._**

"The 'real' negotiations start now" Chris said heavily.

 ** _Severo, in the DJ booth above the dance floor, nods to DJ who takes out a bullhorn that sprays smoke when triggered. Smoke also issues from several points around the club. In the hallway, Scott sees smoke begin to rise from under a door – then it pours out of all the vents near the ceiling. He recognizes it as Wolfsbane and tells Kira to run. She tries but a hunter is waiting and coldcocks her with the butt of a shotgun. Araya comes out to gloat saying "someone who's been an Alpha for only a few months should be more careful when facing a hunter of more than 40 years." Scott realizes that Araya doesn't know where Derek is either. He says as much and she shocks him with a cattle prod._**

"That was fast. Typical Calavera efficiency" Peter sighed.

 ** _~ Flashback ~_**

 ** _Stiles, Scott and Lydia are at the Beacon Hills Animal Clinic. Stiles questions Scott about how long it's been since he's heard from Derek. Scott says "weeks" passed without a word so he went by the loft and found it locked with the alarm set but inside he found lots of brass bullet casings with the skull symbol which Dr. Deaton has identified as the mark belonging to the Calaveras, a family of hunters in Mexico. Stiles wonders if they killed Derek and Scott says that's what he's hoping Lydia can determine. He passes the container of shell casings to her she reaches in a grabs a handful, working them back and forth in her fingers. She drops them to the floor and each one strikes with the sound of a gunshot and Derek's scream. She says Derek isn't dead but she's not sure he's alive either. She says she doesn't know what it means but that there is something not right. They decide to search for the Calaveras in Mexico._**

 ** _~ End Flashback ~_**

"It wasn't the Calaveras. And knowing Kate, I'm still alive somewhere" Derek growled.

 ** _Scott comes to on the floor of a filthy public restroom. Kira is hovering over him, Stiles and Malia quickly join her, helping Scott to his feet. Kira explains that Araya has Lydia. Araya is pouring tea at a table on the sidewalk in front of a cafe called "Consuelas." It is the next day and the hunter explains that she doesn't have much experience with Banshees. Lydia says she doesn't either since she's only recently become aware that she was one. Araya then sets Lydia a task to determine which of two men standing guard nearby are going to die._**

"I don't think I am that capable with my ability yet" Lydia mumbled.

 ** _Scott tries to pry open the large metal door but Kira says they've already tried it, saying there is evidence that others tried and failed to escape the room before them. Malia suggests they jump whoever opens the door next and run for it. Stiles reminds her that they can't leave Lydia because "the rules of the wild kingdom don't apply to friends" and suggesting that they've discussed the matter before._**

"Hoping you learn it sooner" Stiles shouts a little looking back at Malia, tilting his head back. Malia shrugged, "I would still leave her" she said. "Thanks for making it clear" Lydia mumbled with a scowl.

 ** _Kira wants to know if that's what Malia would have done as a coyote, "leave her for dead" to which Malia replies in detail, "If she was weak and injured – yeah" adding, "If hunting had been bad that season, I would eat her. Then I'd leave."_**

"Okay, we siriusly need to teach you the 'human' way of doing things" Stiles said with a sigh.

 ** _Changing the subject, Scott wonders aloud what the Calaveras want with them and if maybe Derek left on his own or was taken by somebody else. At their table, Araya peels an orange with a wicked serrated blade. She continues to question Lydia about her power wondering if she has to touch them or something they own to tell who is going to die. Lydia says she doesn't know. Araya fingers the knife as she wonders how close to death the person has to be. She taps the knife and Lydia begins to get a feeling as she looks at the two men. Araya suddenly whips the knife out at one of the men, striking him in the chest. Lydia lets out a little scream as he drops to the ground. She asks Araya why and the old hunter says "he stole from me." Lydia asks what she wants and Araya says she wants to know what kind of Alpha Scott really is._**

Peter narrowed his eyes slightly, "Why would she want to know that?" he asked Chris. "She might be old, but she is a stern follower of the code. Unless Scott harms a human, she will not hunt him" he explained.

 ** _Severo and two other hunters enter and shock Scott with the cattle prod._**

"That doesn't look harmless to me" Stiles rolls his eyes.

 ** _Araya and Lydia return to find Scott bound to a chair with manacles, chains, and electric wiring. Scott begs the hunters to let Lydia and the other go as Lydia is being chained to another chair in similar manner. Severo brings Kira in and explains that since "the fox" is not susceptible to the electric current, she will be forced to work the machine that shocks Scott. If she refuses Severo will shock Lydia. When she refuses, he points out that Scott can heal while Lydia will not._**

"She is testing him?" Laura asked. Chris nodded, "It would seem so".

 ** _Araya explains, calling Scott "Lobito" or "baby wolf," that it is a test and if Scott answers then nobody gets hurt, if he doesn't answer "we turn on the dial." She says they don't know where Derek is and wants to find him as well and keeps insisting that Scott knows. He keeps saying he doesn't even as Kira is forced to increase the electric charge._**

Allison flinches seeing the interrogation while Melissa tried not to cry out.

 ** _Back in their restroom prison, Stiles is pacing. He keeps asking if Malia can hear Scott. She says she can't because there is too much noise, too many voices. He tries to calm her down telling her that she "practiced this with Scott before." He urges her to focus and to concentrate but instead she leans in and begins kissing him. When they break, her eyes are glowing blue and she is focused on Scott voice._**

"That's one way of concentrating" Stiles blinked, blushing slightly. Malia didn't look fazed while Lydia shifted a little in her seat. Allison looked at her friend with a knowing glint in her eyes.

 ** _Scott continues to say he doesn't know anything as the current is steadily increased by a reluctant Kira. Araya pushes Kira aside and cranks up the juice to maximum. Eventually, with Araya's leading questions about the Hales, Scott realizes that the only person that she could be talking about is Kate Argent. With a burst of strength, he breaks the manacles and is free and Araya demands he say the name, which he does. Malia relates what Scott has said to an incredulous Stiles. Malia has no clue who they're talking about. In a dark, cobwebby stone hallway we see Kate standing in front of a disc shaped sculpture inlaid in the stone wall. Behind the sculpture, Derek Hale appears to be unconscious, tied and covered in cobwebs._**

"She sealed me behind some wall?" Derek raised an eyebrow. "not only that, she even drew on it" Laura pointed out.

 ** _Araya lets Scott and his friends go explaining that she knows where Kate is hold up but the four men she sent to find her did not return. Before letting him go, Araya says she knows what kind of Alpha he is and where his "next step lies." She says "when you take the bite of an innocent, when you make a wolf of your own, when you do that – I will cross your border and come knocking at your door."_**

"Wouldn't that be a fun visit? Knock knock. Who's there? It's me old lady Calavera and I brought souvenirs" Stiles snorted.

 ** _Araya has hired Braeden as their guide to La Iglesia, which translates as "the church," where Kate was last seen. They are to find her, capture her and return her to the Hunters. During the drive in Stiles' Jeep, Malia insists on knowing about Kate. Scott explains that Kate was never in the casket at her funeral. The Calaveras came to check Kate's body and found her healing. They removed it back to Mexico, to the same restroom prison seen before, and tried to force her to kill herself as is the hunter's code. Kate faked her death and killed six of her captors to escape._**

"Such a Kate thing to do" Chris shook his head.

 ** _They discuss if Kate is now a werewolf, Scott says he doesn't know and relates what we learned about Jackson's time as a Kanima – "the shape you take reflects the person you are."_**

"So she is a werebitch now?" Allison asked prompting snorts from everyone.

 ** _Something strikes the Jeep rendering it inoperable. Scott rides ahead with Braeden because it would be too dangerous after dark. Before leaving, Kira has an awkward exchange with Scott in which she tells him to be careful and gives his a big hug._**

"And here I thought the 'hot girl' would already have his target" Stiles laughed.

 ** _Malia finds a large bony claw embedded in the wheel well and says something hit them._**

"You guys got hit by dead cow bone? Which reminds me. Where do the bones of the body go? Why do we only see skulls?" Stiles asks.

 ** _Braeden and Scott arrive at La Iglesia. There is a collection of ruined buildings with a damaged Spanish style church at the center. Braeden says an earthquake leveled the town but not the church and the locals believe it's because the church was built on top of a Aztec temple which was once home to the Nagual which Scott recognizes as a race of shapeshifters. Braeden says they were werejaguars._**

"Well this is bad" Laura mumbled.

 ** _Stiles works to fix his jeep while Malia begins to sense they are not alone. As they walk into the ruined church, Scott catches Derek's scent and something else "not human." Kira grabs her sword and joins Malia at the front of the Jeep. Stiles removes a part from the Jeep's engine and hopes aloud that it's not important._**

"Do you always do that?" Lydia asked. Stiles shrugged, "most of the time".

 ** _Malia is having trouble seeing and laments that they don't have another flashlight, Kira uses the sword to reflect light at some nearby rocks and something moves there. Malia sees it and takes off in pursuit as does Kira. They meet up in dark and both sense that they are chasing something "big and fast" and cuts deep. Malia has been injured. They hear the Jeep start up and run back. As they descend beneath the church, Braeden asks why Scott didn't kiss "his girlfriend" and he explains that Kira isn't his girlfriend. She asks if Scott would regret not kissing her if they die and adds "you should have kissed your girlfriend." We see skeletons moving in the dark but they are just a collection of bones with no real form. Scott senses something but neither of them can see where it is because it moves too fast. Stiles chastises Malia for running away. He says he thought she was just leaving them. Malia says she would never leave Stiles – ever. She says she would leave Lydia and Kira but never Stiles._**

"Well that's good to know" Lydia rolled her eyes before fidgeting again when she watched the looks Malia and Stiles shared.

 ** _Which Stiles says is "progress" over Malia's ingrained coyote instincts. Malia says she didn't see the thing that scratched her but says it had a strong sent "like death."_**

"Not good. Death is never good" Malia said, scrunching her face.

 ** _Scott growls into the cave causing a small cave-in and "scaring" their pursuer away. The roar-induced rock fall also reveals the carved circular sculpture which Braeden recognizes as an image of Tezcatlipoca which she describes as the "Nagual jaguar god." Scott punches through the rock surface and there is someone inside who reaches out to them._**

"You two look really freaked out" Laura pointed out. "Freaking out aside, that was an awesome roar!" Stiles grinned.

 ** _Stiles and the others arrive in the Jeep as Scott and Braeden exit the church with the person they found inside. Stiles and Lydia look shocked as the figure is revealed to be the spitting image of a much younger Derek Hale._**

"They found a young you look alike?" Laura asked. "I think that is me" Derek said, his eyebrows furrowed. "We'll see soon anyways. And Lydia? A word?" Allison asks as she takes Lydia to another room.


	56. 4-2

"So Stiles huh?" Allison asks as soon as the door closes behind them. "What about him?" Lydia asked with a raised eyebrow. "I saw the looks you were throwing him. And how uncomfortable you got when he and Malia shared moments" Allison said with a smile. Lydia blinked before folding her arms, "I don't know what you are talking about" she mumbled. "No use hiding it Lydia. I know you are starting to fall for him, if not already falling him" Allison poked her on the arm. Lydia sighed and slapped her hand away, "I admit that I am feeling 'something' for Stiles. But I don't know what I'm feeling. He is different from Jackson. He cares about my emotions, Jackson almost never did that" she said. Allison smiled a little wider and patted her shoulder, "Jackson is an ass. Stiles isn't". Lydia nodded, "I know. Let's go back for now and not talk about this" she said with a light glare at a giggling Allison. The two came back and took their respective seats choosing not to talk about what the two of them discussed.

 ** _~Flashback~_**

 ** _Under a full moon, a basketball game is getting underway inside the Beacon Hills High School Gym. Young Peter Hale walks into the locker room to find his nephew, 15 year old Derek Hale, in the midst of wolfing out under a running shower. Peter chastises him for risking the game during the full moon. Derek says he thought he could control the transformation but Peter says even "born werewolves" have to learn control on the full moon. Derek is angry saying it was supposed to be easier for them and wondering why it hurts so much. Peter asks if Derek brought "it" but the boy says "it" isn't working. Peter insists and Derek removes a metal disk from his pocket. It bears the triple spiral triskelion symbol. Derek holds it in both hands and chants "Alpha, Beta, Omega" over and over. His transformation continues and he screams in pain._**

 ** _~End Flashback~_**

"I can't believe you taught him like that!?" Talia groaned/growled. "You perfectly know how I was taught when you handed him to me. You think I would try a different approach?" Peter raised an eyebrow. "I had hoped you would be a bit more open to other methods" Talia said. "Well sadly you hoped wrong" Peter said cooly.

 ** _At a rainy gas station a car is parked with its driver's side door open. The attendant hears growling noises coming from the station's only public restroom around the side of the building. He knocks and inside we see Kate Argent struggling with a transformation. She calls out to him but then her words devolve into guttural growls again. Thinking she is on drugs, he uses his key to open the door and enter. Kate, full transformed now, attacks him in a frenzy._**

"Well she got much more dangerous and out of control now" Stiles said flatly.

 ** _It's raining as Scott McCall, Stiles Stilinski, and Lydia Martin bring the newly regressed and still unconscious Derek to the Animal Clinic. Dr. Deaton is baffled by his condition. He suggests they leave him there until he wakes up. Deaton says the other teens should go home and get some sleep since it is a "school night." Sleeping Derek is grasping Lydia's hand tightly and she volunteers to stay saying her grades are fine. Stiles is reluctant to leave but Scott forces him to go._**

"Worried about your girl?" Laura smirked. Stiles spluttered his reply while Malia growled at Laura. "Possessive" Laura whistled with a smirk. Lydia looked at Malia and bit her cheeks a little.

 ** _Scott returns home to find the furniture in the dining area has been removed. A metal bowl is catching drops from a steady leak in the roof and there are signs of minor construction. Scott notices his father is sleeping on the couch and, while watching him, trips over a tool box. Agent McCall says he's just getting started on the list of repairs "you guys" need done. He asks the time. The clock says 4:05 but Scott lies and says it is midnight. His dad reminds him that they had a deal to have dinner on nights when Melissa works the night shift. Scott lies again and says he forgot, explaining that after they got back from the "camping trip" he had to go straight to the Animal Clinic to finish up some work._**

"Camping trip" Stiles snorted.

 ** _They make a dinner date for "tomorrow night." His father asks if he got anything to eat, Scott replies "yeah, Mexican."_**

"Nice dude" Stiles slapped him on the back.

 ** _At the Animal Clinic, Lydia is dozing. She awakes to find Dr. Deaton checking Derek's heart rate which is "alarmingly high." Deaton then checks his healing ability by cutting his arm with a scalpel. It heals much faster than it should but Deaton says he doesn't know what that means._**

"That's abnormally fats" Talia mumbled looking worried.

 ** _While they are looking for a syringe so Deaton can "try" something else, Derek awakes. His claws are out and his eyes glow blue. They say his name but when he looks at them he sees nothing but a red haze with indistinct shapes and glowing eyes. All sound is distorted. He lashes out at Deaton caching him on the forearm and escapes._**

"Safe to say Derek, you are not in control" Allison commented. "You don't say" Derek rolled his eyes.

 ** _Scott and Stiles arrive at school a few hours later and Stiles relates how he often wakes up to find Malia curled up with him in bed. When Scott asks what happens next, Stiles pulls up his shirt and shows him his lower back. We don't see what's there but it is implied that they are claw marks made during sex._**

"Kinky" Laura laughs.

 ** _Stiles says after that they just spoon for the rest of the night but expresses frustration that he is always the "little spoon" meaning Malia is behind him in the dominant spoon position. Scott says it just means they're together, they're dating._**

"Little spoon" Peter laughed. "Jokes aside" Scott coughed to help him control his laugh, "congrats on your first relation buddy" he grinned at Stiles. "Gee thanks buddy" Stiles rolled his eyes with a smile.

 ** _Stiles is worried that Malia knows he's not telling her something and Scott agrees that they need to tell her but he doesn't know how._**

"With your mouths is a good choice" Malia said.

 ** _Mr. Yukimura is teaching about how many great historic leaders have failed spectacularly before succeeding. He lays out the details of one such leader saying he "failed at business, had a nervous breakdown, was defeated for both houses of congress and lost as a candidate for Vice President" and then asks if anyone knows who he is describing. While many hands in the classroom go up, he calls on Malia who seems distracted with a highlighter in her mouth like a dog bone while furiously drawing red lines._**

"You kinda look cute" Stiles pointed out. Malia blinked and relaxed in her seat a little, her cheeks gaining a very slight pink tinge.

 ** _Scott's phone rings – Mr. Yukimura tells him to turn it off. He gives more clues saying "one of our greatest Presidents, Gettysburg Address" Malia still doesn't have the answer. Kira is furiously waving her hand at her father. Stiles' phone beeps – Mr. Yukimura again admonishes everyone to turn their phones off. Malia is furiously looking in her text book when Mr. Yukimura opens the question up to the rest of the class, every hand goes up. Malia sinks down in her desk, embarrassed._**

"It's okay. You lived in a forest for most your years. I'm pretty sure the forest didn't have books on general knowledge" Peter said softly, looking at his daughter who just shrugged.

 ** _Another cellphone beeps. Mr. Yukimura shouts "I said phones off!" but Kira points out that it's his phone ringing this time. He picks it up and reads a text "Scott call Lydia." Later at the Animal Clinic, Lydia is just finishing putting bandages on Deaton's injured arm. The vet theorizes that Derek's mind has been regressed along with his body. Lydia says he was scared out of his mind._**

"More good news" Laura sighed.

 ** _They figure out that Derek would try to go home, to Hale House, because he wouldn't remember the fire because from his perspective it wouldn't have happened yet. At a construction site, Derek tears through a chain link fence and finds the charred remnants of Hale House reduced to a pile of rubble within a rough outline of the home's stone foundation. He kneels among the remaining boards. Scott doesn't want to lie but Stiles and Lydia try to convince him to hold off on telling Derek that his family is dead. Deaton points out that if Derek gets to the house first they won't have to tell him._**

"So he might relive the loss" Laura sighed, sinking into her seat.

 ** _Derek is still kneeling in the ruins when Deputy Parrish and Deputy Haigh show up. Parrish tells him he can't be there but Derek says it's his house. Haigh is rude, calling Derek dumbass and telling him to "get the hell out of here."_**

"He better mind his tongue or he won't be there in the future" Peter growled.

 ** _Parrish offers to help. Derek wants to know what happened to his house and his family, his mother. Haigh grabs him, Derek squeezes his arm hard enough to make the bigger man back off. Haigh then grabs his tazer and jabs it into Derek's side and chest._**

"I'm gonna rip him apart" Laura growled.

 ** _Derek is taken to the Sheriff's Station and handcuffed to the same bench where he and Chris Argent were handcuffed. Parrish offers to remove the cuffs if Derek will be okay. Haigh says he's run the fingerprints and all that comes up is Derek Hale's criminal record. The screen shows Derek's middle name starts with an "S" and lists his height as 6'0" with a weight of 171. His race is listed as "Caucasian/Unknown" the list also includes his address and phone numbers. Sheriff Stilinski overhears this and steps in. He stares intently at Young Derek for a long time, rising to look again at the adult mugshot and back at the youngster. Stiles and Scott show up and the Sheriff tells Parrish and Haigh that he will handle this case. In his office, the Sheriff looks terrified and asks if the boys have been time traveling saying "because if time traveling is real – I'm done. You're going to be driving me to Eichen House."_**

The room burst into laughter hearing him.

 ** _Scott – We found him like that._**

 ** _Sheriff – Where, swimming in the fountain of youth?_**

 ** _Stiles – No. We found him buried in a tomb of wolfsbane in an Aztec temple in Mexico underneath a church in the middle of a town that was destroyed by an earthquake._**

 ** _Sheriff – You told me you were camping!_**

 ** _Stiles – Yeah, we were. It was in Mexico._**

More laughter ensued after hearing the conversation.

 ** _Scott explains that Derek has been "aged backwards" and can't remember anything. The Sheriff agrees to let Scott and Stiles talk to him. Derek is wary of Scott and Stiles. Scott explains that there was an accident and Derek lost some memory but that they can help him get it back. As they talk, Stiles notices a past due bill notice from Eichen House (1742 Maybrook ST, Beacon Hills, CA 95921) it says "Second Notice" on the envelope._**

Stiles sighed knowing exactly what that was.

 ** _Scott flashes his Alpha red eyes at Derek but he is still not convinced that he should trust them and demands they tell him about his family. Scott says there was a fire then hesitates and then lies saying the Hale family is fine but had to move out of Beacon Hills. He promises to take Derek to them as soon as he gets his memory back. Derek agrees. Scott doesn't like lying to him. He explains to Stiles that things always go better when they tell the truth. Scott tells Stiles to take Derek to the McCall house and keep him there. Lydia and Kira pull up to the same gas station we saw Kate at last night. Kira is concerned how Scott feels about the whole "dialing up the electricity while he was being tortured" thing and Lydia assures her that Scott "couldn't be more into you." She then tells Kira to grab her credit card from the visor and fill up. Kira notices that the car's tank is already full and goes to find Lydia._**

"Banshee Lydia at it again with her body finding shenanigans" Allison joked causing Lydia scowl at her.

 ** _Lydia is around the side of the building staring into the open door of the restroom. She tells Kira not to look but the advice goes unheeded as Kira looks into the blood soaked room. Shortly after dark, Scott arrives at Derek's loft on his motorbike. Malia is there, she heard that Scott was going to visit Peter who Lydia calls "Satan in a v-neck" and figures he shouldn't go alone._**

"Satan in a V-neck? That does sound like a good little nickname" Peter joked. "Yeah and a believable one too" Stiles grumbled.

 ** _Stiles and Derek arrive at the McCall house and find Agent McCall is there with take-out Chinese food. Stiles tries to rush Derek upstairs but Derek is hungry and Scott's dad is offering food. Stiles introduces Derek as his cousin Miguel and the three sit down to eat._**

"Derek does look like a Miguel" Laura joked earning her a sharp poke to the side from Miguel.

 ** _We learn that Derek speaks fluent Spanish as does Mr. McCall. Stiles says "Miguel's" last name is "Juarez Cinqua Tiago." Malia and Scott enter the loft and the werecoyote says she senses something wrong with Scott – his heart is "pounding like crazy" and she wonders if he is nervous. Peter pipes up and says he's just bad at introductions. Scott then awkwardly introduces Peter and Malia. Peter at first seems fascinated asking if Malia got her "beautiful eyes" from her father, she says she got them from her mother and he seems to lose interest._**

"Weirdo" Malia mumbled.

 ** _Peter says they must have told Malia a lot about him – she says the homicidal killing spree came up. Peter says "we're all works in progress" to which Malia responds that when he "progresses" to his next killing spree he should make sure they all stay dead. Scott asks what Peter knows about turning people with a scratch. Peter says the claws would have to go very deep and it's a one in a million chance that it could happen. He suddenly realizes they're talking about Kate._**

"Of all the people I scratched to death. Kate had to be the one to return" Peter groaned again.

 ** _During dinner, Derek notices that Mr. McCall is an FBI agent and asks him about the Hales. Peter is frustrated that nobody stays dead in Beacon Hills. Malia says they all were hoping he would. Scott is trying to work out why Kate regressed Derek to his earlier age. Peter works out that it was to get Derek back to an age where he would trust her, before the fire and before Derek knew that Kate was responsible. He admits that Derek and Kate had a sexual relationship that began shortly after Paige died._**

"We do not need to see the adult woman seduce my teen brother" Laura rubbed her face.

 ** _Derek is pissed and smashes Stiles head into the wall of Scott's bedroom. It seems Agent McCall told him what really happened to his family and now he says he won't talk to anyone but "the Alpha" meaning Scott. Stiles leaves to get him and Kate comes in. She absconds out the window with Derek. Trying to get ahead of Kate's next move, Scott calls Lydia to help him figure it out. Lydia explains about the body at the gas station and sends Scott pictures of the murder scene with her new phone. She mentions in this exchange that she has a 4.0 GPA in AP Biology._**

"That's brilliant" Stiles says to Lydia with a smile. Lydia nods at him softly, a smile on her face.

 ** _Peter says the body looks like she couldn't help it, like she couldn't control her shift and this leads him to believe that Kate wants the metal triskelion. Kate and Derek arrive at Beacon Hills High School. Kate wants to get inside "the vault" to get the triskelion. Derek isn't sure he should trust her since he's lost his memory about most things but she kisses him and he takes her to the Beacon Hills High School sign._**

Laura made gagging noises seeing that.

 ** _He inserts his claws into the metal grate on the side of the brick sign and turns. The sign slides back revealing a staircase leading underground. Arriving at school with Peter and Scott, Malia smells the creatures that menaced them in Mexico. Peter says they are Berserkers and unbeatable. He runs off, Scott and Malia follow._**

"Oh God she brought Berserkers" Talia groaned. Seeing the mostly calm Talia groan made the others nervous.

 ** _In the vault, Derek finds the disk while Kate examines a large metal safe in the center of the room. Outside, Scott and Malia face two berserkers. They try to defend themselves but the creatures are much stronger than both of them. Malia gets a deep cut on her leg and is unable to stand. Peter arrives in the vault and congratulates Kate on her complicated scheme to get her hands on a "little piece of junk" he says the disk was simply a tool Talia Hale used to teach her children how to control their shift. It was a point of focus for them but other than that it was a cheap trinket made in China._**

"That must have really made Kate mad" Allison snickered.

 ** _Still trying to keep up with the berserkers - Scott growls loudly. In the vault Derek hears this and rushes outside to help. Kira runs in and slashes at the berserkers with her sword. She loses focus, looking at Scott, and they disarm her and easily toss her aside._**

"She gets to easily distracted" Chris sighed.

 ** _As the creatures are bearing down on the three injured teens, Derek runs up behind them and attacks. As they strike him his face morphs, becoming older then snapping back to his teenage visage. Peter explains to Kate that Derek gave up on the using the triskelion after Peter taught him to use anger, rage and hatred to focus his mind during the full moon._**

"Oh look at that. I did teach him another way" Peter smirked at Talia who growled at him.

 ** _Peter suggests Kate do the same and they prepare to fight. Just then several smoke grenades are tossed down into the vault exploding with a flash near Peter. While Kate is choked by the smoke, she is otherwise unhindered by the attack. Peter is partially blinded and unable to get up as a figure in black boots walks slowly into the vault, opens the safe, removes a large briefcase and walks out._**

"No' Peter's eyes widened.

 ** _The berserkers hear a loud growl, apparently Kate calling to them, and disengage from their fight with Derek. Scott realizes that Derek is an adult again. As he turns we see he now has a full beard and glowing yellow eyes._**

"Yellow?" Laura asked confused.

 ** _Lydia and Stiles, with his aluminum bat, arrive in the vault. Peter says "they took it while I was blinded" he explains that this whole episode was a heist to steal $117 million in bearer bonds from his family's safe._**

"MY MONEY!" Peter screamed as if in pain.


	57. 4-3

Before the next episode could begin, the screen fizzled and there was a flash of light as six people crashed into the room. They groaned in unison and slowly got up slowly looking around in confusion. "Scott?" one of them said with a bit of shock in his voice. Scott squinted at him for a moment before his eyes widened, "Theo!?"

The already present people helped the new comers out and filled them in oon where they were and what they here for. "So we are gonna see our future?" the only girl in the group asked. Lydia nodded, "yeah". The newcomers looked at each other before the room lit up again and Sky appeared, _"Sorry I'm late. Those pesky Dragons kept breathing fire at me"_ he grumbled before smiling at them. _"So your seniors already filled you in. Now introduce yourselves and get the show on the road"_ and with that he poofed again.

"Guess I'll go first. Theo Raeken" Theo introduced himself. "Mason Hewitt" the colored boy said. "Liam Dunbar" the boy scowling at the girl said. "Hayden Romero" the girl said glaring back. "Corey Bryant" the lean one said stealing glances at Mason who seemed more preoccupied with Liam and Hayden. "Jordan Parish" the oldest of the group said with a small smile. "Okay now that that's out of the way, let's start!" Stiles exclaimed and they took their seats. __

**_A teen boy steps out of his house and calls for "Willow." There is no reply. He goes back inside and shouts to his mother that he can't find "her" (Willow). There is no reply inside the house._**

"Feels so much like a horror movie" Mason mumbled. "You'll get used to it" Stiles waved him off.

 ** _He goes room to room downstairs. He turns out the lights in each before heading to the second floor and going to bed. As he is turning out his desk lamp he notices dirty paw prints on the carpet. He looks under the bed and sees his cat "Willow" peering back. He brings down the desk lamp to get a better look and sees the cat is covered in blood._**

"Oh God" Hayden put a hand on her mouth.

 ** _Outside his bedroom door, he hears screams and shouts – walking out into the hall he sees a shadowy figure with a tomahawk, dripping with blood._**

"I'm getting a 'Shinning" vibe of this" Jordan muttered. "Me too" Lydia mumbled.

 ** _He runs back inside and slams the door just as the tomahawk head slams through it. He dashes to the bathroom and rummages through drawers looking for a weapon. We hear the door from the hall to his bedroom give way and the vintage glass crystal doorknob turns._**

"Oh God it is the Shinning" Stiles gasps. "Is he always like that?" Mason asked. "Unfortunately" Peter shrugged.

 ** _The shadowy assailant wears a small keyboard on his arm – he types on it and words issue from an unseen speaker. The computer voice addresses the boy as "Sean" and explains that his whole family is dead. He asks if Sean would like to die like them – begging for life – or to go out fighting. He then advises Sean to wrap his hand in a towel and break the mirror so that he can use one of the shards as a weapon._**

"How nice of him?" Corey said with an unsure tone to his voice.

 ** _The attacker hears glass break within and kicks through the door – Sean has broken a window and can be seen running away from the house on the street below. The attacker steps into the light from outside and we can see he has no mouth, just smooth skin from his nose to his chin._**

"What the fuck" Liam's jaws dropped. "Oh this isn't all there is" Scott chuckled.

 ** _It is now a week after Derek returned to Beacon Hills from Mexico. He and Peter are in the loft discussing hiring Braeden to track down Kate. They haggle over the price which Peter says is too high but Braeden points out that they are paying her to go against The Calaveras who have also paid her to find Kate. That level of danger, going against the hunters, comes at a much higher price. Derek stares at the reflection of his own eyes in a pair of sunglasses but speaks up to say they'll pay Braeden's ask to find Kate and the mercenary leaves._**

"Who is this Kate and why are you hiring a mercenary to find her!?" Parish asked in shock. "Oh you'll see" Peter growled.

 ** _Peter wants to find Kate in order to find their bonds. Peter says they need the money because his resume is out of date. As Peter becomes upset about getting robbed he grabs Derek's shoulder. Derek spins and grabs his arm. Derek's eyes glow yellow as he growls at his uncle._**

"Dude your eyes are yellow!? But they were brown like a moment ago" Mason blinked in confusion. Derek shrugged, "I'm a werewolf" he said. "And I'm a werecoyote" Hayden snorted. Derek shrugged again.

 ** _Peter has apparently not seen Derek wolf out since his transformation from teen back to adult. He is surprised by the yellow eyes. Derek says he doesn't know what happened to them and is willing to pay to find out._**

"So that's why you paid her that much" Laura snapped her fingers.

 ** _At Beacon Hills High School Lacrosse Field, Stiles is reassuring Scott that he is still "Team Captain" because he got his "grades up just like Coach told you to". Scott says he's texted Chris Argent about Kate's return but the former hunter hasn't gotten back in touch. He would have called but says he can't afford a phone call to France._**

"France is nice" Allison muttered. "She always did want to go there" Chris thought with a sad smile on his face.

 ** _Stiles commiserates about a lack of funds, pointing out his own unpaid medical bills for an MRI, and his stay at Eichen House. Stiles says they have big problems, "117 million" problems, but lacrosse isn't one of them. Scott disagrees pointing out the freshman player at goal who is not letting anything past him during the early morning practice._**

"Go Liam" Mason cheered while Liam smirked. Hayden looked at the screen a bit impressed.

 ** _Another student, Garrett congratulates "Liam" on his performance and says he might just be the team's first freshman captain. Stiles decides that he and Scott need to practice before tryouts. At 7AM Melissa McCall and a new doctor are discussing Beacon Hills Hospital's financial troubles after a "bizarre amount of damage". He says the insurance won't pay and they say cutbacks in the nursing staff and possibly pediatrics are on the horizon. The doctor says they'll have time to discuss it later, he urges Melissa to go home and get some sleep._**

"I think you should. You look about ready to fall over" Rafael said in worry. Melissa shook her hand and waved it off.

 ** _At that moment, Sean arrives at the Emergency Room door. He pushes it open and leaves a bloody handprint on the glass. He collapses to the tiled floor. Melissa and Sheriff Stilinski are examining the body of Sean's mom in the hospital morgue. She suffered deep lacerations across her upper torso. The Sheriff explains that Sean's father and older brother were killed in similar manner. Melissa says the wounds weren't caused by "claws and fangs" the Sheriff adds that the Medical Examiner says the weapon was some sort of ax. Both parents seem relieved that they won't have to call in their boys to help for this non-supernatural investigation._**

"Why would two teens even be involved in an investigation!?" Corey asked with some confusion. "You'll see why very soon" Allison smirked.

 ** _Kira is freaking out a bit. She found a "For Sale" sign on her house on her way out to go to school. Her mother explains that their stay in Beacon Hills was only temporary and that they are trying to sell the house to move back to New York. Kira makes excuses for them to stay, starting with her father's "important" job as a high school History teacher. Mr. Yukimura points out that he was a Professor at Columbia University before they moved out west. Mrs. Yukimura guesses correctly that Kira is really worried about leaving Scott but the teen denies this. Her mom points out that Scott wasn't Kira's first boyfriend and he won't be her last. Kira sighs and says "He's not my boyfriend."_**

"Dude get the girl already" Stiles groaned.

 ** _In the locker room, Stiles confronts Liam about his performance on the field at practice – probing to find out if Liam has a supernatural advantage. Liam is oblivious to his meaning and explains that he transferred from Devenford Prep. Scott is listening to Liam's heart rate and realizes he is lying. He guesses correctly that Liam got kicked out of his former school._**

"Dude why did you get kicked out?" Stiles asked. "I could name a few reasons" Hayden said and Liam glared at her.

 ** _Liam says he learned the game from his stepfather who apparently made Team Captain when he was a sophomore. Malia gets to math class, sees the complicated algebra on the board, and immediately turns around and leaves the room. Stiles catches her in the hallway and takes her back to class. She protests that she doesn't understand why they have to take math. Stiles explains it's so they can figure out the right amount to tip in restaurants. Lydia, disgusted by this answer, explains that math is also good for "less important things like medicine, economics, engineering."_**

"But mostly tipping cause not everyone likes maths or those subjects" Stiles said with a grin.

 ** _Math Teacher Ms. Fleming asks for volunteers to come up to the board to work out some problems in front of the class. She calls on Malia who points out that she did not volunteer. The teacher calls her up anyway. Malia turns and growls at Stiles. We get just a partial look at Malia's math problem " = (x-15)_** ** _2_** ** _= x_** ** _2_** ** _-30x-225" where she is trying to solve for "x". Lydia sees Malia struggling and supplies her with the answer which is "x = 25."_**

"Okay we really need to work on your maths" Stiles mumbled while Malia groaned.

 ** _Lydia asks if Malia went over the notes she gave her before class. Malia says she did but did not understand them. She has become so stressed about the math problem her claws are out. She doesn't realize until Lydia tells her to put them away. At 11:22 AM, Stiles gets a "Beacon Hills News Alert" on his phone. It reads "TRIPLE HOMICIDE, DEVELOPING…" He tells Scott after class but his friend already knows because Melissa called him earlier. Stiles is ready to leave school to go investigate but Scott reminds him that they have "Econ" in five minutes. Stiles still wants to go but Scott points out that their parents want them to stay out of it while Kira suggests they let the adults handle it. Stiles says he's never heard anything so irresponsible in his life and stalks off._**

"I'm sure us adults can be responsible" Noah squinted at his grinning son.

 ** _Scott tells Kira he'll have time to discuss "that thing you wanted to talk about" after lacrosse tryouts. She says sure to which Scott responds with a "Great - see you then" and a quick peck of a kiss on the lips._**

"You didn't" Lydia groaned.

 ** _Kira looks stunned. Scott rushes to class, grabs a desk, and sits down. Only then does he realize that he just spontaneously kissed Kira and he too looks stunned. In a dark room, the man with no mouth (The Mute) is sitting in front of a computer screen. He removes a small metal plug or stopper from a hole in the side of his neck, breath sounds come from the opening. He then sticks a tube into the hole and a dark, viscous liquid begins to run down the tube and up into him. He swallows loudly as the fluid is pumped into his throat. On the screen a complex array of code scrolls endlessly._**

"I wonder what the codes could mean" Mason mumbled.

 ** _At the Sheriff's Station, Stilinski orders Deputy Parrish not to enter the crime scene. The younger man protests and says it feels like they're missing something. Stilinski agrees and says Agent McCall is bringing in an expert from Quantico (FBI Headquarters) who specializes in "this kind of thing." Parrish thinks he means the U.S. Marshal who is already at the station. We then see Braeden flashing a Marshal's badge and collecting a copy of the case file._**

"We really need to check the badges properly" Noah groaned.

 ** _In the locker room after school, Scott is explaining to Stiles about the peck he gave Kira in the hall. He says it was their first kiss since their "actual first kiss". Scott says he "did but didn't" kiss her. He says it was the kind of kiss you give your grandmother when you're 5 years old. Stiles describes it as a "chaste" kiss. Scott says it's now "all weird" and says maybe he should text her – Stiles advises against texting. Coach blows his whistle and explains that it's "an open tryout today" meaning all slots on the team are open. He says it's a rebuilding season and points out they don't have Jackson Whittemore and Isaac Lahey. He says Greenberg, the one player he'd hoped to get rid of, was "held back, again."_**

"Cut him some slack Bobby" Claudia giggled.

 ** _Scott approaches the Coach to ask about his position as Captain but never actually says it. Coach is non-committal saying only that he's "on the team." Liam is close by listening to the exchange. During tryouts Liam continues to dominate. He is the fastest runner – while Stiles comes in panting and collapses in last place. He only half-jokingly suggests that Liam is a "Werecheetah" as he gasps for breath. Scott says the kid is "just that good." He then takes Stiles off to the side of the field where he can "puke." Malia and Kira are in the stands watching tryouts. Kira has a lacrosse stick and toys with it while watching the boys. Malia points out that Kira smells stressed saying she "reeks of anxiety and it is distracting." Kira explains quickly that she is worried that her relationship with Scott was "never much of a thing" and she wants it to be more. Stiles is struggling on the field and gets laughed at by his teammates while Liam seems to dominate in whichever position he finds himself._**

"Well we now know who is the main man" Liam smirks.

 ** _Scott is also performing poorly. He says he's not using his enhanced werewolf agility because it would be cheating. Stiles says "human" Scott is sucking. Coach has Scott and Stiles cover goal with the long sticks for "two on ones" which means they have to stop players from advancing toward the goal. The boys get into a rhythm, successfully blocking all comers. The coach is proud – he says Scott and Stiles are like "sons to me."_**

"Aww" the girls coo.

 ** _Kira is getting into the play, Malia is also catching on to what's going on. When it's Liam's turn, he manages to get past both of them with a bob and twist move. Malia comes to the defense of Scott and Stiles, standing and yelling from the stands that Liam's success was just luck. She screams for a "do over" but the coach says there are no do overs in practice. She then shouts "10 bucks on Scott and Stiles" and the coach is instantly interested saying "I'll take that action" and ordering Liam to go again._**

"Go Malia!" Laura cheered.

 ** _On his second run, Scott goes under Liam and flips him over. He is laid out on the field in obvious pain but struggles to get to his feet insisting that he is okay. Scott and Stiles take him to the nurse. Frustrated, Coach picks up a ball and throws it toward the stands. It flies straight at Malia's head but Kira leans the stick over and catches it just before it strikes. Coach yells for her to "throw it back" and she does, hitting him in the breadbasket and knocking the wind out of him. He is impressed and asks if she's ever played lacrosse._**

"That's all he could think of at that moment?" Allison laughed.

 ** _Deputy Parrish is sitting outside the crime scene at Sean's house going through the case file. He glances up at the front door and sees a figure walk past inside. He enters, gun drawn, and demands that whoever it is "show yourself." Lydia steps out from the parlor._**

"Dead body?" Stiles looks at Lydia. She shrugs and nods, "Dead body".

 ** _Derek flips through the case file back at his loft. Braeden is changing clothes. He says it doesn't sound like Kate since the killer used an ax. She corrects him and says the killer used a "military tomahawk." Derek says that detail is not in the report and asks if Braeden plans to tell him what else she knows – she says "not yet" because she really doesn't know much. She says the people she needs to talk to don't talk to people like Derek. She says he will just have to trust her. He says he doesn't even know her. She responds by saying that she knows him and knows "what you really want." She continues that Derek wants what Kate stole from him. She quotes an Irish proverb in Gaelic "Briseann an dúchais tri shúile an chat" and translates it as "the true nature of someone is reflected in the eyes." She says, in Derek's case, it is the color of his eyes._**

"Damn she is good" Peter muttered.

 ** _Derek says she has a week to find Kate. Scott runs out of the locker room to explain to Kira that he has to take Liam to the hospital. Kira says they can talk later. Scott tries to apologize for the "thing" he did in the hallway. He says he didn't want to make it awkward or weird and apologizes again. He then dashes back into the locker room leaving Kira looking unhappy. Scott comes back out of the locker room and rushes to her saying he's not sorry. He grabs her and kisses her deeply and passionately._**

"Finally" Lydia and Stiles sigh in unison.

 ** _Lydia tells Parrish she would try to explain her being at the crime scene but that she's never gotten a satisfactory explanation herself. Parrish has apparently heard about Lydia showing up at other murder scenes. He suggests that maybe she is psychic. She demurs saying he can't possibly believe in such things. Parrish says he'd like to say he doesn't believe in anything but keeps an open mind. Lydia's powers kick in – she begins to hear the whispers and sees the shapes of screaming people in the wood grain of the wainscoting. She pushes on the wood panel and it opens. Cold condensation drifts out from behind the wall. Parrish draws his gun as Lydia opens the panel further revealing a thick metal door attached to the wood. They both enter and find themselves between the inner and outer walls of the house in a narrow corridor. At the end of the passage, there is an opening curtained by plastic. They pass through into a very large room. Parrish flips on the light and sees they're in a large freezer with dozens of plastic covered objects hanging from the ceiling. He says it looks like a "game locker" suggesting that hunters might have one to store their kills. He unzips one of the plastic bags and discovers a human corpse inside._**

"OH MY GOD" the new kids all screamed.

 ** _At hospital, an uneaten plate of peas, carrots, and potatoes sits untouched on a tray in Sean's room. Melissa is checking his pulse and asks if he's sure he doesn't want something to eat but the boy refuses. She tells him to let her know if he needs anything and reminds him the deputy is right outside. She emerges from his room to find Scott, Stiles and Liam at the Emergency Room counter. Melissa wheels Liam away. Stiles says he has to go study with Malia but before he leaves he reminds Scott that Liam's injury isn't Scott's fault. Stiles says if Scott had put even a little werewolf strength into the hit – Liam's body would be in two halves._**

"Werewolf? Seriously? That's what you guys call drugs?" Liam looked at the two with a raised eyebrow. The two looked at each other before snorting.

 ** _Scott still feels guilty saying if he hadn't been so concerned about losing his place as Captain, Liam wouldn't have gotten hurt. Stiles says its okay for Scott to want something for himself once in a while – he says it's only human to want. Mrs. Yukimura has put out a buffet for their "open house" but no one has shown up. The flyers for their house say the list price is $659,000 and gives the address "17106 Sate Blvd - Beacon Hills, CA 95921" the phone number provided for "Beacon Hills Realty" is 555-2333. Mr. Yukimura comes in carrying the pieces of what was the "For Sale" sign. Kira has apparently sliced it up. Kira is in her room practicing with a lacrosse stick, spinning it like her sword when her mother shouts her name. She smiles and spins around bringing the stick down with a "woosh."_**

"She got some moves" Hayden smiled, impressed by what she saw.

 ** _At Stiles house, he and Malia are studying math. Malia gives up, slams the book shut, jumps on top of Stiles and starts kissing him. Stiles insists they get back to study – then they can "go back to that, lots of that."_**

"Oh the hormones" Parish groans.

 ** _At his questioning, Malia explains her highlighter system. Green is for the things she understands. Yellow is for "I'm working on it." Red means "I have no clue." She says she's mostly using red. Stiles realizes this is the same system he uses with colored string in his detective work. He smiles at the thought and kisses her. Malia says she doesn't get how math is so hard for her but easy for the rest of them. Stiles says it's because they use Lydia's notes. Malia says her notes make no sense and when Stiles looks through the notebook he realizes Lydia didn't write out math at all. It looks like gibberish but is actually similar to the computer code we saw The Mute looking at earlier in the show._**

"You wrote codes?" Mason raised an eyebrow. "More like the Banshee did" Lydia sighed.

 ** _The new Doctor who was with Melissa early this morning is checking Liam's ankle. Through their conversation it becomes clear that the doctor is Liam's stepfather. He says an x-ray will be required to determine the level of injury. Liam feels the injury is his fault for going up against two juniors, one of whom was the captain of the team. Scott is listening outside as Liam's dad reminds him to play smart not hard. The boy is afraid his stepfather is mad at him but the doctor brushes it off. He says Liam's mom will be mad at her husband for getting Liam into lacrosse in the first place. Lydia calls Scott. She sounds panicked as she tells him to get to the hospital and find the survivor, Sean Walcott. Melissa stops in to tell Sean that the sheriff is on his way and he needs to wake up. Sean is on the floor eating the intestines of the deputy that had been guarding his room. He says he couldn't help it because he was "so hungry."_**

"We haven't encountered anything like that yet" Stiles said, clearly disgusted.

 ** _He looks up revealing shining white eyes and double rows of sharp teeth._**

"A Wendigo" Peter mumbled.

 ** _Scott races to find Sean. The elevator shuts before he can reach it - he takes off down the hall. Sean rises to his feet and attacks Melissa as she runs for the hall. She screams as he drags her back toward the room. Scott growls from the other end of the hall. He runs and tackles Sean, knocking him to the ground. They wrestle a bit before Sean gets his leg up and kicks Scott off – showing super strength as Scott flies back and crashes into the wall. Scott rushes to check on his mom – she's shaken up but otherwise fine. Melissa tells her son to "go get that son of a bitch." Scott growls and takes off._**

"You look different! What the fuck happened!?" Mason swore. Scott shrugged, "I shifted".

 ** _Hearing Melissa's screams, Liam limps out of his room finding the hallway deserted. Sean, covered in blood, walks up and grabs Liam. Scott sees blood in the stairwell and hears Liam shout. He races up to the roof where he finds Sean holding Liam in a choke hold near the edge of the building. Scott begs Sean to stop, he says whatever he is and whatever he needs, they can help him. Sean says "Wendigos don't need help – we need food!" Liam manages to twist out of the choke hold and faces Sean. Scott leaps several feet in the air and lands near the edge of the roof. Sean throws Liam over the edge and turns to face Scott. The werewolf shoves him aside and moves to save the boy from going over the side of the building. Sean attacks Scott pinning his arms back while Liam struggles to hold onto the ledge._**

"Oh shit don't let go" Mason mumbled, feeling very worried for his best friend.

 ** _As the boy begins to slip, without a free hand to help, Scott bites down on Liam's arm to keep him from falling._**

"Oh Scott" Peter smirked.

 ** _At that moment The Mute hatchets Sean in the back killing him. Scott helps Liam scramble up to safety. The boy clutches his now bleeding arm. Scott's bite is visible and apparently very painful. Before he leaves the roof, The Mute turns to Scott and places a "shush" finger across where his mouth should be._**

"What the fuck just happened!?" Liam swore looking straight at Scott. 'Well" Peter started and Liam looked at him, "You got bit by the Alpha. If you don't die, you'll be a werewolf" he said with a smirk. Liam blinked a few times before screaming and punching his seat continuously.


	58. 4-4

"So let me get this straight" Mason started and pointed at the Hale's and then Scott, "werewolves?" Scott nods. He points to Lydia, "Banshee?" she nods. He points to Malia, "werecoyote?" she growls. He points to the Argents, "hunters?" they nod. He then looks at Stiles, "So what are you?" he asks. Stiles shrugged, "I'm a guy with a bat who got possessed temporarily by an evil fox demon". "How am I a werewolf now?" Liam asked panting heavily. Peter rolled his eyes, "As we said, you got bit by an Alpha. If the bite doesn't kill you, you become a werewolf" he explained.

After the end of the last episode, and the end of a little temper tantrum from Liam who needed to be strapped down, the newcomers were introduced to the world which existed right beside their own. It took them a moment but they all accepted it, Theo a bit too easily then the others. The seat was repaired and they sat back down to resume their watch.

 ** _A helicopter, spotlight shining, circles above Beacon Hills Hospital. On the roof, Sheriff Stilinski along with Deputy Parrish and several other officers are cataloging the crime scene. Sean's corpse lies. Sheriff Stilinski has Parrish clear the roof and seal the scene so that he can consult with an "expert" about the scene. Parrish is surprised that the sheriff has "an expert on teenage cannibals" but does as he is ordered._**

"I bet its Derek or Peter" Laura mumbled.

 ** _Derek Hale seems to appear out of nowhere once the officers leave. The Sheriff explains what Scott told him about Sean being a Wendigo. Derek describes them as "cannibalistic shapeshifters" and says they've not been in Beacon Hills for a long time. He suggests Sean's family was well hidden._**

"And yet no mouth found him" Stiles said in thought. "No mouth? Seriously?" Mason gave Stiles a weird look. Stiles shrugged with a smirk.

 ** _Derek then catches the scent of blood. Scott McCall claimed it was just Sean, The Mute and himself on the roof – but Derek says there was a fourth person, a young male. Stiles and Scott arrive back at the McCall House. Scott dropped off Liam earlier – wrapped him in duct tape and stuck him in the bathtub. Liam – mouth covered by tape – grunts and whimpers at Scott and Stiles from the tub._**

"You seriously took him hostage?" Stiles just gave Scott a look as he laughed weakly while Liam blinked furiously.

 ** _Stiles says Scott sucks at coming up with plans. Stiles decides to move Liam from the tub to a chair in Scott's room and to remove the tape from Liam's mouth so they can talk to him. Scott is trying to explain that he bit him in order to save his life and that he is now going to change but Stiles keeps pointing out that he might also die._**

That is not going to help" Lydia groaned.

 ** _Liam begins to cry and they untie him. After a moment, Liam jumps up, grabs the chair and whacks Scott with it. Scott falls into Stiles who stays on his feet. Liam then punches Stiles in the face and runs out the door, realizing that his ankle is now healed._**

"And doesn't seem suspicious to you?" Mason looked at Liam who just shrugged. "I'm probably more interested in getting the hell out of there" Liam explained,

 ** _He makes it to the end of the hall before Scott and Stiles come after him. They all end up rolling down the stairs and end up in a cluster at the bottom. Liam escapes and Scott points out that Stiles' plan sucked too. The alarm light is flashing at Derek's Loft but the alarm is not sounding when Peter shuts it off and calls out for his nephew. He is focused on reading a document when a tomahawk flies through the air and lodges in his chest. The Mute steps out and Peter gasps for Derek. His attacker types on his wrist keyboard and an electronic voice says – "Don't worry Peter. Derek is next."_**

"Well isn't that nice" Peter rolled his eyes.

 ** _Stiles is attaching chains and restraints to Malia in his bedroom. Malia says she hates full moons. Stiles promises it will get easier. The restraints are worn through in some areas and she believes they may not last much longer. He says they should try to make this the last full moon that they will need to use it. He also says they may need them for Liam._**

"Yeah they wouldn't last five minutes" Liam snorted. "Yeah on a destructive SOB like you, nothing lasts" Hayden retorted making Liam glare at her.

 ** _Malia questions if they know for sure that Liam will turn into a werewolf and Stiles again says he's not sure he'll live. The sheriff stops by his son's room, sees the chains, and decides he doesn't even want to know what's going on and turns around to leave._**

"Not what you think!" Stile defended his future self as the room chuckled.

 ** _Lydia Martin has her math notes on her laptop. Kira says it doesn't look like math. Lydia agrees that it looks more like code and she has no memory of writing it. She points out that, since her drawing a tree led to the Nemeton she should probably figure out what the code means "before it tries to kill us."_**

"Right, we get killed off by codes now" Stiles rolled his eyes.

 ** _Kira says it might be like the Enigma Code the Allies used in World War II. She reminds Lydia that her father studied the war and her mom "was in it"._**

"Her mom was in World War II?" Hayden asked. "Yeah that's a whole other story" Lydia sighed.

 ** _Lydia believes it is a variation of the Vigenère cipher which is a code in which letters are substituted based on a code word or "key." Lydia's Mom, who sometimes teaches at Beacon Hills High School, dangles a set of keys in front of Lydia reminding her that she can have no more than six people at the lake house, to stay out of the wine and that if anything gets broken it will be added to Lydia's "credit card debt." Mrs. Martin also reminds her to lock up the basement because from all the scratches on the walls it looked like a pack of wild animals had gotten down there._**

"So that's where we spend the full moons" Stiles snapped his fingers.

 ** _Garrett, Violet, and Mason exit the school bus. Garrett is complaining that he doesn't want to watch another movie on a "Friday night." Mason reminds him that they are freshmen and just got off a school bus so won't be "hitting the clubs till 4AM." Liam arrives, out of breath, with a bloodied bandage covering his arm. Mason asks him why he wasn't on the bus and he says he ran from home which is apparently 3 miles away. Liam has a dizzy spell and sees Scott watching him from across the quad. He then rushes inside the school._**

"Scott….you're turning into Derek" Allison whispered to Scott then yelped when she got poked on her side.

 ** _Inside, Stiles and Scott corner him and convince him to listen. Scott tries to explain the situation but doesn't know what to say. He tries a couple of lines that Derek said to him after he was bitten saying "we're brothers now" and "the bite is a gift" and that something big is happening to him (Liam)._**

"The fuck kind of speech is that!?" Liam asks Scott who looks at Derek. Derek shrugs and looks back at the screen.

 ** _Liam is not impressed. He says nothing is happening to him and rips off the bandage and Scott's bite has healed completely. He leaves them standing there. Sometime later at school, Lydia, Scott, Kira, Stiles, and Malia are discussing what to do with Liam. Malia says she won't share "her" basement. Lydia points out that it is her basement and that her mother knows how Malia tore it up "last time". Scott says they'll use the boat house for Liam. It has support beams to which they can chain him. Lydia suggests they tell Liam there is a party and invite him. They want her to seduce or trick Liam into coming to the lake house but she says she is "done with teenage boys" and suggests they use the trickster to play a trick on him. When Kira is reluctant, Lydia reminds her that female foxes are called "vixen."_**

"Way to corrupt the innocent" Allison giggled.

 ** _Liam catches site of Kira coming down the stairs in the hallway. He is smitten. In slow motion, Kira sexily descends the stairs but trips on the last one and falls on her face. Liam rushes to help her and she asks him to go to a party with her._**

"That's one way to do it" Stiles laughs.

 ** _Peter has a gaping chest wound, oozing black puss, but is still alive after his encounter with The Mute. At the loft, Derek explains that the ax was coated with Wolfsbane and since he doesn't know the "species", he'll have to burn it out._**

"I sense you're enjoying this" Peter looked suspiciously at his nephew.

 ** _Peter points out that he can "handle a little fire". Derek lights a blow torch and sets to work. Peter he's recovered, Peter explains that The Mute said he was after Derek. Peter apparently stripped him of his key board speaking device during their fight and shows it to his nephew. Kira drives Liam through the woods. The full moon is out. Liam's hearing becomes very sensitive and while her car stereo is playing low – he hears a cacophony. Kira explains that they're going to Lydia Martin's lake house but that it actually belongs to Lydia's dead grandmother. Liam gets a text from Mason "Where are you?" After Kira explains that "everyone" is coming to the party, Liam responds to the text._**

"I got a bad feeling about this" Lydia muttered.

 ** _Scott arrives at the lake house on his motor bike. Lydia, Malia and Stiles are waiting. Stile explains that he looked into Liam's past and found out that he got into it with a teacher at his old school. He was apparently kicked out due to his violent attack on the teacher's car with a crowbar. The image shows a smashed and dented car with windows busted out and the words "THIS IS YOUR FAULT" scratched across the passenger side doors (front and back)._**

"Well…..that's something" Luara muttered, too shocked to say anything.

 ** _As they get closer to the lake house, Liam's breathing becomes labored and Kira looks worried. Once they arrive he seems fine but he is suspicious that there aren't more vehicles there. Inside, Stiles, Scott, Malia and Lydia are waiting. Stiles says to think of it as an intervention. Derek has brought the wrist keyboard (which is attached to a leather glove) to the Sheriff's Station. The sheriff is still trying to figure out the Mute. He wonders aloud how he eats with no mouth. Derek wisecracks that Peter didn't get a chance to ask him since he was too busy fighting with a tomahawk in his chest._**

"Thanks for defending me nephew" Peter rolls his eyes.

 ** _That's another question on Stilinski's mind, "who runs around with a tomahawk?" Parrish sticks his head in and says he did in the military for "I. E. D." (Improvised Explosive Device) removal. He says the tomahawk and the wrist keyboard are both military issue. He says the device they have looks to have been modified. At a nod from Derek, the sheriff closes the door between his office and the bullpen and turns back to Parrish and says "show us." The others have apparently tried to fill Liam in on the supernatural situation. He repeats each one's designation "Werewolf, Werecoyote, Banshee, Fox." Kira supplies the word Kitsune. Liam turns to Stiles "What are you?" to which Stiles replies "For a little while I was possessed by an evil spirit. It was very evil." Liam asks again "What are you now?" Stiles replies, "Better?" Liam notices the chains and restraints on the coffee table and asks if those are for him. Malia says they're hers and her eyes glow blue. Liam is taken aback and demands to know how she did it. Scott says he'll learn after he gets through the full moon. Liam resists when they begin to explain that he's already feeling the effects. He gets angrier and angrier until his hearing is overwhelmed by a noise only he can hear. He is disabled. Scott cocks an ear to listen and a car pulls into the drive. Liam admits that he told Mason about the party and Mason apparently invited everyone._**

"My house" Lydia whimpers.

 ** _Liam's nails shift into claws and he begins to scratch the floor. Lydia freaks out a bit and demands that they get him off the floors. Liam rises up, bares his fangs, and growls at Lydia. Scott and Kira rush him to the boat house. Malia is suddenly overwhelmed by her transformation and growls at Stiles who rushes her off to the basement. Lydia is left to deal with the unexpected party goers because Stiles points out that she throws the best parties in Beacon Hills._**

"Well that isn't a lie" Lydia mumbles sadly.

 ** _She goes to the door and finds more than 30 people are lined up to get inside. Mason and Garret are in front and ask if they're in the right place for the party. Lydia forces a grimace-like smile and says "absolutely." The crowd cheers and flood inside. Parrish has hacked into The Mute's keyboard glove device and says he's found an IP address. The sheriff points out that they can use the address to find him. The glove twitches and on the screen a message arrives._**

 ** _The screen reads –_**

 ** _SEC_**

 ** _SBC #38 SBUF ADR – 38_**

 ** _INY_**

 ** _STA (ZPGWRK),Y IF ADR OF NEXT TAB_**

 ** _PHA WHICH GOES INTO_**

 ** _TXA LINK_**

 ** _SBC #0_**

 ** _INY_**

 ** _D; BENEFACTOR: MONEY TRANSFERED_**

 ** _They're baffled by the "handle" Benefactor but the sheriff realizes that the money means The Mute isn't just a killer, he's an assassin._**

"Well isn't that nice" Scott groans.

 ** _Lydia's lake house sits on a hill above the lake, a small metal boat house sits on the water. Inside, Scott tries to hold a snarling Liam back while Kira fastens the chains to one of the buildings support beams. Liam breaks free and lands on top of Scott who manages to hold him off until Kira smacks him in the head with a nearby boat paddle. Liam is knocked cold._**

"Hey!" Lia mgrowls. "Sorry?" Scott apologizes lamely.

 ** _Stiles is fastening the restraints to Malia as the music from the party plays in the house above. Malia keeps trying to get Stiles to leave but he refuses. Upstairs a delivery man rolls in a keg of beer. Lydia says she didn't order it (especially because it is domestic beer) but the guy says someone here ordered it. Lydia acquiesces and takes the bill, which has a $100 extra charge the delivery man tacks on for customers below the legal drinking age. Lydia notices a glass of wine on her laptop and freaks, pointing out that the computer cost $2000. She sees Garrett holding a bottle of wine and points out that it costs $400._**

"Who even drinks wine at parties!?" Corey said a bit insulted.

 ** _Lydia takes the bottle from him and notices Mason going upstairs. She follows and Garrett says he should pay for the keg since he opened the wine. He hands the delivery man several bills. Kira and Scott watch over Liam who is still out cold. Kira says he looks young and Scott points out that he is just 15. Scott says they will help Liam and seems certain that the boy will want their help._**

"More like need it" Stiles mumbled.

 ** _Malia is still trying to get Stiles to leave her. She begs and threatens (graphically) but he refuses to leave her and says he won't let her hurt anyone. Her restraints begin to tear._**

"That's romantic and all but you're gonna get yourself killed" Malia pointed out.

 ** _Outside, the beer delivery guy returns to his car. He has a flat tire and begins cursing. He grows claws and his eyes glow yellow as he grunts and growls. He takes several deep breaths and begins to chant – "three things cannot be long hidden: the sun, the moon, the truth." He repeats the mantra three times, begins to calm down, and drops to his knees. We can now read the badge on his work shirt it says "Demarco" which is apparently his name._**

"A wolf of Satomi's pack" Talia said.

 ** _As he is kneeling, a figure comes up behind and loops a chain around his neck. It is pulled tight and as Demarco struggles we see his assailant is Violet – Garrett's girlfriend. She pulls the chain tight and then pushes a silver brooch attached to it. The chain begins to glow and Demarco's neck begins to smoke. Within seconds, his head is detached from his body and flops to the ground. Violet snaps a picture with her cellphone and walks away from the body._**

"That method" Rafael narrows his eyes.

 ** _She returns to the house. She has refashioned the deadly wire into a necklace and the brooch/button mechanism hangs bolo-like around her neck. She walks up to Garrett who is pleased to announce that "our friend" just sent him a text. It is from "The Benefactor" and says "The money has been transferred into your account." Violet smiles broadly and they kiss._**

"Great! Now we got kids who want us dead" Derek groaned.

 ** _Mason is looking around upstairs. He wanders into a white room with red accents at the end of the hall. It is decorated sparsely with a bookcase, a couple of chairs, a desk and a record player._**

 ** _Mason (in the hallway): Liam? You up here? Dude, where the hell are you?_**

 ** _Lydia: What are you doing up here? The party is downstairs._**

 ** _Mason: I was looking for Liam._**

 ** _Lydia: Sorry, but missing freshmen are a little low on my priority list._**

 ** _Mason: But not so low that you don't know he's a freshman?_**

 ** _Lydia: I might have seen your friend downstairs._**

 ** _Drinks spill_**

 ** _Lydia: Oh my god the carpet! No, God, No!_**

 ** _Mason: Hey, it's okay, it'll come out. I promise. Okay. I'm sorry. Was it valuable?_**

 ** _Lydia: No. That's the problem, nothing in here's valuable. We just put the house on the market. It was supposed to be left without a scratch. It has to be in perfect condition. We need every penny we can get out of this place._**

 ** _Mason: Okay, let me go get some club soda and salt. Lydia, it'll come out. It will._**

 ** _Lydia: Okay._**

Lydia sighed sadly, guessing why they might need the money.

 ** _Lydia stays behind after Mason leaves, the door seems to close on it's own shutting out all sound. Lydia rises and opens the door and can once again hear the party raging downstairs. She closes the door and the room is completely silent._**

 ** _Lydia: Soundproof?_**

 ** _She walks over to the red record player and turns it on. The needle rises and finds its way to the record before dropping. A peculiar kind of white noise comes from the speakers. Faces seem to push through the white wall, mouths opening and closing as if speaking. Lydia stares transfixed._**

"Not creepy at all" Lydia said.

 ** _In the boat house, Scott can hear the music from the house but Kira cannot. He says they're playing "Electronic." Kira says she wished they played slow songs at parties because she was better at slow dancing. Scott pulls up some music on his phone and they dance. Kira questions Scott on how he maintains control on the full moon. Scott says it comes down to keeping his pulse rate down and concentration. Kira then sets out to distract him. He says he is "in-distractable." She kisses him a couple of times and his eyes begin to glow. She says she heard him growl too but Scott realizes it wasn't him – it was Liam. They turn as Liam busts out of his chains, runs past them, dives through the window, and runs off through the woods._**

"You guys had one job!" Stiles groaned.

 ** _In the basement, one of Malia's arm restraints breaks and she urges Stiles to run as she tries to break the chain that still restrains her other arm. The sheriff (with gun drawn) and Derek enter the high school. They've traced The Mute's IP address to the school's wifi but Derek points out that doesn't mean he's still there. The sheriff says he's seen enough at the school to know he should keep a gun in his hand when walking in after dark._**

"Good plan" Melissa nodded.

 ** _He notices a large pool of blood seeping under one of the classroom doors. Derek says it doesn't make any sense because he would have smelled it before they entered the building. They cautiously open the door and see the knob is attached by a line to a claymore explosive that would have blown out toward anyone who opened the door all the way. Derek senses something coming, grabs the sheriff, and throws him to the ground as a tomahawk slices through the air and into the wall where his head was. The Mute leaps from his hiding place on the stairs and comes toward them._**

"A battle!" Laura said in excitement.

 ** _Malia is still struggling against her restraints. Stiles talks her down saying he won't run because he doesn't believe she will hurt him. He says she is afraid of hurting him because of what happened to her family. Stiles says he knows what it's like because while he was possessed by the Nogitsune he was aware of everything he did and even enjoyed it. He felt powerful and fearless and most of all "in control." But once he was free he realized control is overrated. Stiles reaches down and unlocks Malia's chains. She jumps to attack him but almost instantly returns to fully human form. They embrace._**

Noah puts a hand on Stiles' shoulder while Claudia rubs his back. Malia looked at Stiles with a soft smile.

 ** _Liam runs through the woods with Scott following close behind. Scott loses sight of him but the boy is now behind him. Wild and out of control, Liam gets the better of Scott. Pinning him to a tree and screaming "it's your fault." A flash bolt arrow hits the tree near their heads and Liam is blinded. He runs off and leaves Scott behind. The arrow was fired by Chris Argent. He explains his arrival simply with "I got your text."_**

"Way to make an entrance dad" Allison laughed.

 ** _The sheriff is thrown to the ground and Derek is dodging The Mute's tomahawks. He manages to disarm him and pins his arms behind his back. The sheriff points his pistol at him and says "you have the right to remain silent."_**

"Nice dad" Stiles snorted.

 ** _But as the Sheriff cuffs him, Peter shows up and attacks The Mute – ripping him to pieces._**

"You had to do that before we got informations?" Noah groaned. Peter shrugged.

 ** _The sheriff levels his pistol at Peter who just shakes his head, turns and walks away. Derek shouts after him, we've learned a better way but Peter says he's a creature of habit. Argent explains that he's set up a trap for Liam in a nearby clearing. He says Liam is Scott's Beta and he will have to deal with him. When Scott protests that the boy won't listen to him, Argent says that he will if Scott uses his own words. The trap is a circle of Ultrasonic Emitters. Liam is on his knees in the center when Scott arrives and turns them off. Liam is no longer transformed. He asks Scott what's happened to him and Scott says "the same thing that happened to me."_**

"Now that is how you connect" Mason claps.

 ** _Kira finds Lydia still listening to the white noise upstairs. She says she's got the key to break the code. Liam is crying and says his family can't find out about him because of the way they looked at him when he became violent with his teacher's car. He says they looked at him like he was a monster. Scott says you're not a monster. You're a werewolf, like me while his eyes flash red._**

"Awe Scott" Allison cooed and pulled his cheeks. Hayden looked to Liam who was looking down at his feet as she realized something.

 ** _Lydia inputs the "KEYWORD" – ALLISON - and hits the enter key on her laptop. A list of names and numbers scroll down the screen._**

 ** _SEAN WALCOTT 250_**

 ** _DAVID WALCOTT 250_**

 ** _MICHAEL WALCOTT 250_**

 ** _CHRISTINA WALCOTT 250_**

 ** _LYDIA MARTIN 20_**

 ** _SCOTT MCCALL 25_**

 ** _DEMARCO MONTANA 250_**

 ** _DEREK HALE 15_**

 ** _CARRIE HUDSON 500_**

 ** _KAYLEN BETTCHER 250_**

 ** _KIRA YUKIMURA 6_**

 ** _ELIAS TOWN 250_**

 ** _Lydia say it's a list of supernaturals in Beacon Hills and they're all on it._**

"So someone put out a hit list for us? Just great. Just fucking great" Lydia groaned.


	59. 4-5

**_A young girl runs through the Beacon Hills High School Campus at night. She is bleeding and one of her hands is missing. All that remains is a cauterized and smoking stump. Violet pursues casually spinning her "thermo-cut wire" bolo necklace._**

"I'm liking this girl less and less every time I'm seeing her" Hayden growled.

 ** _The girl takes refuge inside one of the buses repeating the mantra we heard Demarco chanting "the sun the moon, the truth". She stops when Violet enters the bus and begins slowly coming down the aisle. With a burst of speed, the girl leaps up, swipes at Violet with her remaining claws, and escapes._**

"Another one of Satomi's. Is her pack really that big?" Peter mumbled to himself. "You slice her good!" Laura growled.

 ** _She races across the parking lot but stops short when a truck pulls up in front of her. Garrett urges her to get in claiming "she's coming!"_**

"Oh no" Allison groaned.

 ** _The girl gets in, Garrett smiles, says he's surprised she fell for it, and stabs her._**

"What about him?" Liam looked to Hayden who was balling her hands into fists. "I would kill him" she whispered, eyes burning with rage.

 ** _Stiles Stilinski places pictures and red lines of tape on his new, improved, see-through Lucite murder board. He goes through all the recent killings starting with the Walcott's._**

"Love the new board" Scott complimented. "Same man" Stiles grinned.

 ** _He explains how The Mute was killed by Peter Hale after the incident with the claymore mine at the school. Deputy Parrish was called in to defuse the mine, using his military training from the Hazardous Device Team. He then recounts Demarco's death outside Lydia's lake house which Scott McCall and Chris Argent investigated. Scott picked up the scent of werewolf from the body and said it smelled to him that Demarco was part of a pack. Chris suggests that pack may be looking for him. Then Stiles shows some evidence from the most recent murder, 23 year old Carrie Hudson. Scott and Stiles take everything they have along with the partial list of potential victims, to Sheriff Stilinski. They explain that Allison's name was the keyword that unlocked a third of the list and that there are two more keywords that will unlock the rest of the names._**

"Why my name though?" Allison wondered out loud. "Maybe it's only using name of dead people cause it's a deadpool" Mason joked.

 ** _Lydia has been out at the lake house all weekend, using the record player in the soundproof room, trying to get further messages but has so far received nothing via her banshee power. Looking at the list, the sheriff realizes just how many supernaturals may be living in the area. He says Beacon Hills is a town of just under 30,000 people but that the population of Beacon County is closer to 500,000._**

"That's a lot of people. Our ancestors were busy people" Corey said making Stiles snort.

 ** _He is worried that there could be hundreds of names on the rest of the list but the boys don't think so. They believe the numbers are dollar amounts that add up the $117 million stolen from the Hale Vault. The triple digit numbers are thousands while the single and double digits are millions._**

"That's a lot of money" Scott mumbled.

 ** _They surmise that the Benefactor stole the money to finance the murders and wants every supernatural in Beacon Hills dead. The sheriff lays out how it works – The coded list goes out and somehow these professional assassins get that list and the keyword. Then they go after the names on the list. The crime scene photos of the latest murder show an odd shaped mark around each of the knife wounds. The sheriff has no idea yet what it might be. They also figure out that Demarco was lured to the lake house by the assassin. Scott says everyone knows he delivers kegs to teenagers for a little extra cash. The sheriff says whoever ordered the keg killed Demarco. Somebody at the party which means it was a student._**

"First part of the riddle is solved. Now to get to the important part and catch these idiot murderers" Noah growled out.

 ** _At school – Violet pulls her collar over to hide the claw marks inflicted by Carrie during her failed escape. She urges Garrett to go for "some real money" what she describes as "seven figure money." Garrett says they are -"tonight." Kira's dad says he needs to talk to her. She thinks it's about all the recent murders and her name being on the list but he doesn't know anything about it. He simply wants to discuss her joining the lacrosse team without telling him._**

"Hah! That was awkward" Corey laughed.

 ** _Liam is bench pressing 180 pounds in the weight room. Mason is discussing how Garrett borrowed his hoodie and never returned. Mason went to his house, which is supposed to be a new development "on Spaulding" but that there were no houses there yet. He concludes that unless Garrett lives in a backhoe, there's something he's not telling them._**

"That's right Mason. Figure it out" Stiles urged. "Uh dude, I don't think I can come to the conclusion that the guy who didn't return my hoodie was a murderer" Mason pointed out.

 ** _Liam adds an additional 90lbs to the barbell and continues pressing. Mason points out that Liam's been acting strangely, running to school for no reason and disappearing at parties. He says Liam used to be his best friend. Liam adds an additional 90lbs and Mason asks if he's on steroids. Mason wants to know if Liam is worried about the lacrosse game. He says he's not but then Mason points out that the opponent will be Liam's old school, Devenford Prep._**

"oooooooh" Stiles and Mason wince.

 ** _Liam is angry as he enters the locker room. He throws down his gym bag and looks for his lacrosse stick. It's missing. He hears the sound of a stick being scraped along the sides of metal mesh lockers in another part of the room. Derek has a stick. He asks if it's Liam's then breaks it in two. Liam wolfs out and sprints toward him. Derek picks him up by the throat and pins him to the wall of metal lockers._**

Liam and Hayden both winced in unison and then glared at each other.

 ** _Scott calls to Liam who can barely hear him through the rage haze he's in. Eventually he calms down enough to be released. Scott points out that the stick Derek broke was not Liam's and hands him an undamaged one. The bell rings and Scott orders Liam to get to class. Derek smiles at Scott and says he'll be good at training his beta. The former Alpha says Liam's anger will make him strong. Scott says it will also make him dangerous. Scott laments that he was supposed to focus on school this semester but he can't because "Kate's back and I've got a beta and there's a dead pool." Derek says if all their names are on the list, then that is what they should be focused on._**

"No I still think school comes first" Melissa added with a glare at Derek.

 ** _Malia is hovering over Lydia as she attempts to draw something in the art room. The pencil hovers over the paper but inspiration will not come. Malia suggests they look to another banshee for help, meaning Meredith Walker. Coach Finstock is teaching about "economic disparity" using the differences between private school lacrosse teams and public school teams. He says Beacon Hills barely has enough money for duct tape to hold their equipment together._**

"Harsh" Theo whistled.

 ** _During the lesson, Stiles is going over the crime scene photos of the most recent murder. Looking at the pictures, Coach says Stiles is profoundly disturbing. When Coach taps his lacrosse stick on the desk to get Stiles' attention, he notices that the end of the stick matches the shape of around the stab wounds on the latest victim. From this Stiles deduces that the weapon is hidden in a lacrosse stick and someone on the team is an assassin._**

"Of all ways to realize that" Stiles laughed.

 ** _Kira, Scott and Stiles pull apart all the teams lacrosse sticks looking for the weapon, which Scott eventually says is pointless since most of the team plays with their own gear. Kira suggests they should get the game canceled but Scott believes their best chance to find the assassin will be during the game. They all question how the list is made and updated. Stiles calls it a "supernatural census" and wonders who's been collecting the names. Stiles agrees with Kira that they should stop the game but Scott says he's not afraid and Kira steps up and agrees that she isn't either. Stiles says he's terrified and he's not even on the list pointing out that they are facing professional killers with specialized weapons._**

"Yeah I don't know where this confidence future has is coming from but im pretty freaked out" Scott mumbled to himself. Allison looked at Scott and giggled, cuddling into him.

 ** _In the Chemistry Classroom, Violet is mixing a yellow species of Wolfsbane powder into an unknown liquid. She says it is very rare and very expensive. She explains that it works fast. Violet bemoans the fact that they should be going after the bigger target on the list, the Alpha. But Garrett points out that a whole Alpha Pack tried to take down McCall and he was the one left standing. Garrett insists that they only go after the beta on the field during the game._**

"Yeah stay away from the big bad wolf" Laura smiled at a scowling Scott.

 ** _She coats the end of Garrett's stick knife with the gooey yellow substance and says she only has to nick the intended victim. Lydia and Malia realize they can't get to Meredith at Eichen House without permission from a family member and that's impossible because her whole family is dead. Malia stops in the crowded hallway and suggests they go back to the art room or the music room. Lydia snaps that she's not "plucking piano strings for two hours waiting for some supernatural inspiration." She's frustrated because, unlike Malia and Scott, she can't turn her power on or off. She says she didn't get the claws or glowing eyes or super senses, "I just have voices in my head." This last was apparently loud enough for the other students in the hall to hear. They turn and stare at Lydia._**

"You know you sound like one of those crazy people" Theo pointed out. Lydia sighed and nodded.

 ** _Mason pursues Liam out to where the Devenford Prep buses have pulled up at the school. Liam calls out to "Brett", walks up, and extends his hand saying "have a good game." Brett laughs in his face and mocks him saying that he must have learned the move in "anger management." Brett says the team plans to break Liam in half for demolishing "coach's car." Scott notices that Liam is clinching his fists so tightly that blood begins to drip from between his white knuckles. He and Stiles quickly move in and pull Liam back. Stiles begins to shuck and jive, welcoming the "prep students" to their "little public high school." He too extends a hand to Brett who doesn't respond. They rush Liam from the area and back into the school._**

"Kids these days are so rude" Stiles shook his head. "Shut it gramps we are trying to watch a show" Laura joked.

 ** _They cram him into the running shower as he snaps his fangs and roars his anger. Liam explains about the car he destroyed, how it belonged to his lacrosse coach and he trashed it after the coach benched him for the entire of the season. A psychologist diagnosed Liam with Intermittent Explosive Disorder which causes him to rage uncontrollably. He is supposed to take a medication (Risperdal) but doesn't because it makes him tired and keeps him from playing lacrosse. Scott tries to convince Liam to sit out the game but he refuses. Liam says he can stay in control, especially if Scott is there. They explain that there is an added danger with the assassin on their team. Liam realizes that, while he doesn't know who ordered the keg from Demarco, he knows Garrett paid for it._**

"And he is on the radar" Stiles smiled.

 ** _The scrimmage begins. Kira wants to do something about Garrett at the start but Scott says if they guessed wrong then the real killer gets away. Sheriff Stilinski is leaving for the game but Deputy Parrish stops him and says he found Meredith Walker walking from the coast into town. She says she is looking for Lydia._**

"Guess your prayers were heard" Malia looked at Lydia who had a small smile.

 ** _Liam and Mason talk about Brett. Liam says he thinks he can take him, even if Brett is a foot taller. Mason thinks he's hot. He says Liam can "definitely take him… and then give him to me." They both laugh._**

The two on screen are joined in by the rest in the room, except Derek. He was busy scowling at nothing.

 ** _Derek shows Chris Argent the vault under the school. Chris seems surprised. Derek shows him the triskelion disc Kate was looking for and explains that they use it to train young betas to control their shifts on the full moon. Argent admits he's thought Kate was still alive and says he's been looking for her ever since he saw the shotgun shell. He hands the shell to Derek. It has a fleur-de-lis pattern stamped into the metal rim and primer. Chris says he has a place he can take Kate if they can find her. Derek describes it as "werewolf jail." Chris says he will do what he has to do but Derek says he would rather that not happen. Kate took more than just the color of his eyes – his enhanced sense of smell is gone and his other "power" is going too._**

"You're losing your wolf powers!?" Laura stared at Derek in disbelief. Derek just shrugged while Peter and Talia looked at him with worry.

 ** _Scott tries to use his influence at team captain to get coach to sit Liam out for the game. Coach laughs in his face. One of the Devenford Prep players tries to whip a ball at Liam's head with a "think fast" but Liam snatches it out of the air with zero effort._**

"Team captain means absolute nothing to the man, you should know that" Stiles laughs. "I had to try" Scott shook his head.

 ** _Devenford scores early and often. Kira is watching Garrett as Scott keeps an eye on Liam. The Devenford players continue to come after Liam who has to be restrained from going back after them. The Sheriff calls in Lydia to talk to Meredith. He says they only have a little time before he has to call Eichen House to come get her. Parrish asks him if he called Lydia because Meredith asked for her or because she's "psychic." The sheriff says Lydia is "intuitive." Parrish explains that "intuitionists" is what they used to call psychics. He brings Parrish into his office with the girls. Lydia hands Meredith her cell phone because her banshee abilities seem to express through phones. Meredith holds the phone for a moment until Lydia asks if she's going to answer it. Meredith leans up close to Lydia and whispers "it's not ringing."_**

A few people snorted out loud.

 ** _Stiles cracks jokes as he faces off against another player on the field. Talking about how much facial hair the other boy has and pointing out that steroids are illegal. He asks if the player is taking HGH or Gamma Radiation._**

"He isn't the hulk" Allison rolled her eyes.

 ** _The distraction pays off, Stiles takes possession and whips the ball down field to Kira. She runs full tilt toward the goal, evading all defenders, and flings it in for a score. Coach is angry – he explains that the scrimmage game is all about team work and Kira should have passed the ball. He benches her for the rest of the game._**

"Oh come on" Liam groaned.

 ** _Garrett eyes Scott but doesn't make a move. Lydia is trying to get through to Meredith who claims Lydia called her. Parrish steps in and asks if there is someone Meredith calls when she needs something. She says she calls on different people for different things. He continues that there must be a number that can help them and she agrees. She gives the and stops. Malia points out that they need more numbers because phone numbers are 10 digits but Meredith says that's the number. Lydia becomes frustrated and shouts at her but the girl shouts back and sticks to the four numbers she gave them._**

Lydia groans at her own actions.

 ** _Chris is in the weapons cage at his apartment building. He hears a noise and flips a switch to electrify the metal mesh surrounding him. A figure outside the cage drops to the floor. Chris draws his weapon and turns to find Severo pointing a gun at him. Araya Calavera comes in and cracks a joke about how a Mexican standoff is just called a standoff in Mexico._**

"That's cause its Mexico!" Corey shouts back.

 ** _At the game, Brett runs into Liam and flips him, breaking his arm. Brett is down. Scott resets Liam's arm with a crack of the bone. Brett is taken off the field. Scott hears the snick of Garrett's stick knife and begins checking Liam for cuts believing the assassin was after him all along. The Sheriff and Deputy Parrish are preparing to send Meredith back to the home. Lydia is forlorn but Malia sees the Sheriff's phone and has an idea that four numbers Meredith gave them might be letters. Lydia draws out a grid of letters and works out that the numbers spell ou N. She types it in and a new part of the Dead Pool scrolls out._**

"Oh my God I was right!" Mason gasped.

 ** _Kate Argent 12_**

 ** _Noshiko Yukimura 5_**

 ** _Joanne McLaughlin 1_**

 ** _Steve Grace 1_**

 ** _Tom Hill 1_**

 ** _Brett Talbot 1_**

"Now we know who they were after" Lydia scowled while Malia snarled.

 ** _At the game, Scott thinks they're missing something. Stiles has his phone and says Lydia just revealed another third of the list. Liam is not on it but his rival Brett is. In the locker room, the paramedic that helped Brett off the field is down and unmoving. Brett is trying to crawl along the floor but it seems his legs are paralyzed. His eyes glow yellow as he looks up and asks Violet what she did to him. She explains about the wolfsbane poisoned blade and says it won't kill him but says her glowing hot bolo necklace will. He asks why and she explains that he is worth a lot of money as she loops the wire around his neck and pulls. Deputy Parrish offers Lydia a ride home, she's jumpy and refuses. Once he exits, she returns to the rest of the list._**

 ** _Richard Benefield 250_**

 ** _Jack Marsland 250_**

 ** _Joy Waldrop 250_**

 ** _Cheryl Calix 250_**

 ** _Jordan Parrish 5_**

"I'm on it!?" Parrish blinked in shock.

 ** _Scott arrives in the locker room and finds the paramedic. Brett is still alive and still has his head. Violet jumps Scott from behind looping the red hot wire around his neck and pulling but Scott gets his hands between the wire and his neck and pulls back. He easily yanks the wire away and grabs her around the neck – throwing her down and rendering her unconscious._**

"Okay that was kinda scary" Allison mumbled.

 ** _Back at the Argents, Araya explains that Braeden has been out of touch for two weeks and they think Kate may have taken her out._**

"No, she found a better deal" Laura stated.

 ** _She wants Chris to help her hunt Kate and forces him to say the old Hunters' Code "We hunt those who hunt us."_**

"Force him all you want but Allison's code will stick to him forever" Scott smiled confidently at Chris who smiled back. Allison watched the two with a smile on her face.


	60. 4-6

**_"Four Weeks Ago" Kate Argent awoke in the back seat of her car. Noticing static playing from the radio she pushed the knob. A cassette tape ejected from the Kenwood deck. The words "PLAY ME" were hand-written in ink on the label. Kate placed the tape back in the deck and a cultured radio-announcer voice said the following –_**

 ** _"…eventually settling in a small town in Northern California, this family used their wealth to rebuild the community around them while remaining isolated from it. This was sometimes more a choice than a necessity as not all of their children would become werewolves. The ones that did, these born wolves, had to be trained. They needed to learn control. They had a practice for the training of betas, a tradition passed down through generations, it involved the use of a sacred object called 'a triskelion'. Without control, violence – extreme violence, is inevitable."_**

"So someone informed Kate about this Triskelion it seems" Chris mumbled to himself.

 ** _Weeks later – Kate is covered in blood amid wrecked motorcycles, burning cars, and torn bodies. One of the Berserkers holds a bleeding man aloft while Kate questions him about "who pays the bills" and the "mixtape" she received. Because, while no one seems to know who is pulling the strings, Kate believes the assassins each got a tape too. The man says he did not but says a couple who look like "teenagers" got one. He says they're called "the orphans."_**

"'The Orphans' sound so stupid" Stiles mumbled and shook his head.

 ** _One of the not-so-dead bodies fires a gun into Kate's back. She walks over with shotgun drawn to shoot the man but she loses control, transforms and claws him to death. She then turns on the man being held by the Berserker. He begs for his life but she rips him up too._**

"So all that has changed is that she now has claws and fangs" Peter growled.

 ** _Coach tells members of the lacrosse team they cannot enter the locker room after the scrimmage game due to the crime scene inside. He also tells them that they should call the police if they see Garrett and then tell him that he's off the team. Liam comes around the corner and sees Scott McCall talking to his father. Agent McCall apologizes for not being at the game. He says he promised Melissa McCall that he would be around so she could take some extra shifts at the hospital. Scott says it's okay because he's "here now."_**

Rafael and Scott smiled at each other.

 ** _Deputy Parrish walks a handcuffed Violet from the scene. She notices his name and calls him "Jordan Parrish," connecting his last name to one of the targets on The Dead Pool list. He corrects her with an emphasis on his title "Deputy Parish." Violet eyes Scott on her way past. The Sheriff stops and shows Scott's dad the thermal-cut wire Violet used on her victims. The FBI agent seems to recognize it. Liam tells Scott that Kira took off after learning about the second half of the Dead Pool. Scott understands this is because her mother is on the list. Liam worries that he might be on the, as yet, unknown third part of the list. Agent McCall confronts Violet saying they've got a file of more than a dozen murders in which the weapon was a thermal-cut wire. She claims she doesn't know anything about it, claiming she just goes to school here. McCall says maybe they should call her parents but then admits he knows she doesn't have parents, "That's why they call you 'the orphans'."_**

"Oh" Stiles facepalms.

 ** _McCall tells the Sheriff they need to find her boyfriend. Sheriff Stilinski asks Coach for their lockers and says he'll need bolt cutters. On the exam table at Beacon Hills Animal Clinic, the Devenford Prep lacrosse player, Brett Talbot is convulsing and spewing yellow foam from his mouth. Dr. Deaton explains about the Wolfsbane poisoning and says Stiles Stilinski and Derek must hold him very still. He needs to make an incision in his chest and if they don't hold him still he could die. Stiles cracks that Derek Hale use some "werewolf strength" to help hold him down. Derek, who appears to be struggling with the boy, says he's not the only one in the room with werewolf strength, pointing out that Brett is a werewolf as well. Just as Deaton begins to cut, Brett breaks free and rushes toward the exit. He is punched into unconsciousness by Peter Hale who cracks that "I guess I still have a little werewolf strength myself." Derek thinks he has more than a little. Derek notices that his arm, where Brett scratched him during the struggle, is not healing._**

"Even his healing. He really is losing all his powers" Laura mumbled with a sigh.

 ** _Stiles says Brett stopped breathing. Deaton pushes the scalpel deep into Brett's breast bone and slices down. The boy gasps and a thick yellow smoke flows up from the open wound and dissipates. The scratch marks on Derek's arm heal._**

"It's not totally gone yet" Derek points out to Laura who smiled just a little.

 ** _Brett is unconscious but begins whispering "the sun, the moon, the truth." Deaton explains that it is a Buddhist saying "Three things cannot long be hidden: the sun, the moon, and the truth." Peter realizes Brett is connected to a werewolf named Satomi. Scott breaks into Garrett's locker while Liam stands look out. He recovers a bag full of money but tells Liam he found nothing._**

"Scott" Melissa and Rafael say in unison and look at their son.

 ** _The power at the McCall home has been shut off. Melissa is on the phone with the electric company attempting to get them to turn it back on. She is apparently 3 months late in paying her bill. Upstairs, Scott is listening to his mother beg on the phone while a bag with thousands of dollars sits under his bed._**

Melissa sighed to herself.

 ** _Liam and Mason are out for a run. Mason is amazed that two assassins used them, pretended to be their friends. He's also amazed that Liam isn't freaking out. Liam says he's got plenty to freak out about and takes off running at "werewolf speed" leaving Mason far behind. Once he realizes he's left his friend, Liam stops and turns. Garrett rams into him from behind with his truck. With his dagger in hand, he apologizes for missing "movie night" but says he has something else planned._**

"Bitch" Liam growled. "Easy there buddy" Mason rubbed his back.

 ** _Mason arrives along the road where we last saw Liam. He doesn't notice the spots of blood on the pavement at his feet. In math class, Stiles, Kira and Lydia are absent. The teacher asks Malia Tate about them. She offers to "try catching their scent." She then hears someone whispering her name. She gathers her book bag and leaves class. Derek is waiting for her in the hallway. He says Brett is still out of it but he needs help finding Brett's pack. He says they have a secret meeting place in the woods and since Malia has spent more time in the woods than anyone, he's hoping she can help. He's brought Brett's jersey for Malia to catch a scent. She says she's not good at that yet. Derek explains that some scents are tied to emotion, others to identity. Malia sniffs and understanding seems to dawn in her eyes._**

"You learn fast" Derek looked to Malia who shrugged.

 ** _Stiles and Lydia take the second part of the Dead Pool list to Deputy Parrish. He says he ran a bunch of the names through "the system" but couldn't find anything on any of them. They turn the page over and show him the name "Jordan Parrish." He is shocked to learn he's only worth $5 dollars. He is even more shocked after Stiles explains the number stands for $5,000,000. Parrish says he only makes $40,000 a year and then suggests "maybe I should kill myself."_**

"Maybe I should" Parrish said to himself.

 ** _Stiles and Lydia don't explain that the list is of supernatural creatures. They've come to Parrish to get him to help them get in to see Meredith. He is reluctant because the last time they were with Meredith, she almost had a nervous break down._**

"oops" Lydia shrugged.

 ** _Coach is guzzling cold medicine from a bottle. He tells Scott and Mason that Liam skipped his class. Coach says maybe Liam is "sick like me." The bell rings. Mason is reluctant to go to class but Scott says not to worry that he'll find Liam. He says Mason should text him if he sees Liam. Scott's phone buzzes. The caller ID says it's Liam but Scott knows it's not him. It's Garrett. Scott offers to give Garrett the money in exchange for Liam but Garrett wants the cash and Violet._**

"Someone is greedy" Peter scowled.

 ** _Liam is down a deep well in the middle of the woods._**

"Not good" Mason said in worry. Hayden looked at the screen, feeling a bit worried.

 ** _Scott meets Garrett in the bus parking area. His plan is to break Violet out while the police are transferring her by car to a federal facility. Garrett says he stabbed Liam with the wolfsbane poisoned blade and once it gets to the heart "bad things happen." Liam has a stab wound in his chest. It oozes yellow puss as he screams for help in the bottom of the well. He is too far into the woods for anyone to hear. As they enter the woods, Derek explains to Malia that Satomi is an Alpha and one of the oldest werewolves alive. He says she's a bitten werewolf and learned a lot about control after an incident "a long time ago". Derek says the mantra is to help train her betas to control their shift. Malia smells gunpowder. Derek finds a shell and says he doesn't think Satomi's pack is meeting – he says they're hiding. Scott tries to talk his father out of transporting Violet saying it's dangerous because Garrett is still out there. He urges his father to let someone else do it. Agent McCall says no, he lost evidence once from an armored car and doesn't want to take any chances this time. Sheriff Stilinski is accompanying him._**

"Well isn't that just nice" Stiles groaned.

 ** _Violet smiles at Scott as she is led out of the Sheriff's station. Scott opens a case and finds, what looks to be, a tranquilizer gun inside. He tells Garrett that the plan won't work. Garrett says all Scott has to do is stop the car and Garrett will "take care of the rest." As one of the orderlies is trying to open Meredith Walker's room at Eichen House for Parrish, Lydia, and Stiles, the chief orderly, Brunski, stops him. He chastises the orderly not to open a door for just anyone with a badge. Parrish says he has to talk to Meredith about an ongoing murder investigation. Brunski says he can go in but Stiles and Lydia can't. Parrish says they are crucial witnesses. Brunski demands he return with a court order. He then turns to Stiles and says his father needs to pay his bill since it is overdue. He cracks wise about public jobs not being as reliable as they once were. Parrish points out public jobs are useful when you need a favor "like last month when Canaan PD helped you get home after blowing a 0.1 on a Breathalyzer." Brunski relents and they enter Meredith's room._**

"Go Parrish!" Stiles laughed while Mason slapped him on the back with a grin.

 ** _Scott and Garrett see the Sheriff's vehicle ahead. It has rolled onto its side and two figures are lying in the roadway. Garrett stops the truck and Scott rushes to Stilinski. Agent McCall is unconscious and the sheriff is trying to pull him along the ground to the side of the road. Garrett gets his double bladed stick from the back seat and begins advancing down the road toward the wreck. Sheriff Stilinski reaches for Scott and gasps "they're still here." A berserker rises from the shadows. Garrett is impressive, swinging his stick and taunting the Berserker. He shouts "you're not so big!" He is not prepared as another berserker steps into the road and skewers him through the chest with a sharp bone and lifts him off the ground. Garrett drops his bladed stick and apparently dies._**

"I would have cheered if Liam wasn't in trouble and that dead due was his only way out" Mason sighed. "But I'll cheer! WOOOOOOOOOOO" Liam laughed.

 ** _Scott runs to help but he is hit from the behind. Meredith says she can't tell Stiles and Lydia the third cypher key because "things have changed." She says The Benefactor doesn't want her to tell them._**

"She knows the Benefactor!?" Stiles said in surprise.

 ** _Scott wakes up on the exam table at the vet clinic. There is a large sharpened bone sticking from his side. Chris Argent pulls it out. Deaton explains that Scott's dad and the sheriff are at the hospital. Argent says the berserkers move fast and don't leave much of a trail to track. Deaton suggests they use the bone knife to catch a scent. Malia and Derek have had no luck finding Satomi's pack. Derek explains that some werewolves have an ability, a kind of mastery over their body that they can inhibit their scent. Malia suggests that this ability to hide from other werewolves is why no one knew about Demarco or Brett._**

"That's a useful ability" Talia mumbled.

 ** _Malia suggests they try to think like Stiles, like a detective. She says instead of asking where werewolves hide they should ask where Buddhists would hide. Derek says when Buddha sat under the Bodhi Tree he looked to the east for enlightenment. They decide to look at the eastern most point of the woods, Lookout Point._**

"Look at that. Stiles is a figure to look up to" Noah laughed.

 ** _Liam tries to climb up the sides of the well. The rocks are slippery but he manages to get about halfway up before falling back into the water. He remembers talking to Scott after the events at Lydia's lake house Scott explains how he broke through the window during his escape. He said the cuts from the glass healed while Liam was "changed." Liam says that's one good thing about being a werewolf but Scott counters that it could also be really bad for other people. He says Liam needs to "get a grip on this." Liam says he's been trying for years to get his anger under control. Scott asks what advice Liam's dad has on the subject. Liam says "when kids get angry, they deal with it in one of two ways. They either hurt themselves or they hurt someone else." Liam starts back up the slippery rocks toward escape. Lydia demands that Meredith tell her the name of the Benefactor. Meredith says she cannot help "anymore." She becomes more and more agitated until she screams so loud that Lydia's ears begin bleeding._**

"Banshee screams" Lydia sighed.

 ** _Scott and Chris follow the berserker scent to a warehouse. The faded sign reads - "Argent Arms International" Chris explains that he worked here when his family owned the building. Scott warns him that the creatures are "really strong." Chris retrieves a machine gun from the back seat of his SUV. At lookout point Malia catches a foul scent. There are a dozen dead bodies lying nearby._**

"Shit" Derek mumbled.

 ** _Chris and Scott are just entering the warehouse when they hear Kate. She says she was hoping to wait for this reunion once she had more time to learn control. She offers them the chance to walk away without getting hurt. She asks Chris to put the gun down. The berserkers attack and Chris begins firing at them. Scott tells him to stop. Kate reaches Chris and punches him. Scott manages to dodge the berserkers while Chris gets thrown through a table._**

"ooooh" Allison and Scott winced.

 ** _In the woods, Derek says it looks like the dead people were poisoned. Malia says maybe they should all be running from Beacon Hills. As Derek turns to go, he hears someone move, he rushes back and finds Braeden wounded and gasping._**

"What happened here?" Laura mumbled thoughtfuly.

 ** _Scott gets knocked through a wall. Then picked up by a bersker and rammed through several walls. Then picked up and thrown through a wall into a room where he finds Violet. She's dead._**

"That berserker sure loves you Scott" Stiles joked. "Yeah and our favorite pass time together is smash the Scott through the walls" Scott rolled his eyes.

 ** _Chris is severely beaten by the berserker but before it can deliver the killing blow, Kate calls it off. Scott picks him up. He is distraught saying he won't find Liam now. Chris says there is still time. In the well, Liam is still climbing. He begins to cough and his hands slip a bit. He looks up and sees the waning moon shining down on him from the mouth of the well. He shouts in frustration. The cry becomes a growl. At the former Argent Arms International warehouse, Scott turns as if he hears something._**

"Woooo" Mason cheered.

 ** _Lydia and Stiles are in his bedroom trying to figure out the remaining cypher key. They thought maybe it would be another dead person's name but they've tried all the dead they could think of and nothing worked. Lydia is worried that she's driven "the only other Banshee I've ever met" over the edge. Stiles says it's not her fault and that he was there too. This exchange gets him thinking about banshees and how they know when someone is going to die. He suggests that the third cypher key may be the name of someone who's not dead yet but will be. Lydia concentrates and begins typing. When she's done – the name on the screen is DEREK._**

"No no that can't be" Laura shook her head furiously.

 ** _The code begins to unravel and another list of names appears._**

 ** _SATOMI ITO 10_**

 ** _MALIA HALE 4_**

 ** _LIAM DUNBAR 3_**

 ** _MEREDITH WALKER 1_**

 ** _LIZ MOORE 1_**

 ** _PATRICK CLARK 1_**

 ** _BREE LEVERETT 250_**

 ** _KAITLYN SCHAAR 250_**

 ** _GENEVIVE CARY 250_**

 ** _ANGELIQUE FAIN 250_**

 ** _LORILEE ROHR 250_**

 ** _BRITTANI KEGLEY 250_**

 ** _Seeing Meredith's name on the list, Lydia says they need to call Parrish._**

The Hales all looked at Derek who was as stoic as ever. "Derek" Laura poked his side. Derek turned and looked to her, "Laura". "How can you be so calm? You're gonna die!?" she exclaimed and clenched her teeth, tears pooling around her eyes. Derek looked at her for a moment before pulling her into a hug, "Yeah. There isn't much to do about that since it hasn't happened. Who knows maybe I won't die in the end or end up with you guys up there or wherever werewolves go" he mumbled and tried comforting his crying older sister.

After a few moments, when Laura had calmed down, they resumed the how. Talia looked at her son with sadness in her eyes, having heard what he had said.

 ** _Liam is slipping. He struggles just to hang on to the rock wall of the well. One hand slips off and hangs limp at his side. His strength in the other finally goes and he falls back. At that moment an arm from above reaches down and grabs his hand. Scott has arrived and pulls him to safety. Scott holds him close and tells him he's okay._**

Mason and Liam breathed a sigh of relief. Hayden looked down at her lap and saw that her hands were clenched into fists and they were whiter than usual. She looked to Liam again and smiled a little.

 ** _Parrish tells Lydia that Meredith took her own life right after they left her earlier in the night. Brunski removes a knotted bed sheet from around Meredith's neck. Lydia is stunned into silence. Stiles pulls her close into a hug to comfort her._**

Lydia in the room was also stunned to silence as she stared at the screen in disbelief, sinking into her chair. Stiles got up from his seat and went beside Lydia. "Lydia?" he asked gently. "I did that to her" she mumbled to herself. "You did no such thing. It is not your fault" Stiles embraced Lydia as she leaned into him and tried to comfort her.

 ** _Dr. Deaton makes an incision along Liam's chest. The yellow smoke drifts out and dissipates as it did before with Brett. Scott says he doesn't want to keep watching people die. Chris Argent says he doesn't have much choice but Scott is adamant. He says no one else on the dead pool is going to die. "Wendigo or werewolf or whatever," Scott promises to save every one._**

Derek smiled to himself and looked to Scott.

 ** _Melissa McCall is going through her bills. She clasps her hands together as if in prayer. Upstairs Stiles and Scott are looking at the bag of money. Stiles says they should count it and when they dump the stacks of cash out on the floor, a cassette tape falls out as well. It bears a handwritten label, "PLAY ME." Kate is washing the blood from her face in a storm drain under the street. Peter arrives saying he followed her scent "even in a sewer." He says her "surges of anger" are getting worse. He says he too struggled with anger and would break his toys in little fits of rage. He then realized he could break someone else's toys instead. Peter says they are in a "mutually assured destruction" situation but Kate, indicating the berserkers, doesn't think the scales are that well balanced. Peter says he knows Kate wants to return the Argents to power but she can't until she learns control. He offers to teach her control in exchange for his money back. She doesn't buy it saying there must be something more. He leans in close and admits that he also wants power._**

"You son of a bitch!" Stiles screamed.


	61. Author's Note 2

This is just a little note to let you readers know that I won't be updating for a week or so because I have...exams T_T

Thank you so much for all the love and support you guys have shown my story and hope you would all be here after my brief hiatus.


	62. 4-7

**_A small plastic quarantine tent sits within in a larger tented laboratory. The small tent is surrounded by a circle of powdered Mountain Ash. There is growling coming from within._**

"I wonder what that could be" Laura rolled her eyes.

 ** _A lab coated man enters, sits at a work table, and begins making notations. He drinks tea while inside the smaller tent a werewolf, oozing black goo from his eyes and mouth, reaches out feebly with a clawed hand. The man presses play on a cassette player. The voice on the tape says: "After entering the IP address you will be connected through a dark net portal to an untraceable bank. Once logged in enter your account number to receive wire transfers. The IP address will deactivate…" The voice continues on a boom box in Scott McCall's bedroom: "…with each transfer. You will be assigned a new transfer if you choose to continue down the list. Remember, visual confirmation is always required for payment. "_**

"Well this is bad news" Allison frowned. "Was that lab coat wearing dude another assassin and was he the reason for all that black goo?" Theo narrowed his eyes.

 ** _Stiles presses stop on the boom box tape player. He and Scott admit they don't understand what the voice was talking about because they've never had enough money to require a wire transfer. Scott also doesn't understand The Benefactor's motivation for using all the Hale's money to kill him and the other Beacon Hills supernaturals. Scott picks up the money and begins to stow it under the bed. Stiles wants to know what Scott plans to do with the half million dollars._**

"He will return the money like he should" Peter scowled at Stiles.

 ** _Scott wants to give it back to Derek Hale but Stiles is hesitant to give the money back. He reminds Scott that the money also belongs to "homicidal killer" Peter Hale._**

"Okay that doesn't make it okay for you dweebs to keep my money!" Peter growled.

 ** _They are interrupted by Malia Tate before they can finish their discussion of what to do with the money. She explains that she and Derek found Satomi's pack and they're dead. Derek arrives at Beacon Hills Hospital carrying Braeden. He announces to Melissa McCall that Braeden's been shot and he thinks she's dying. Outside the Beacon Hills Animal Clinic Dr. Deaton is locking up when he senses someone behind him. He whips out a telescopic baton weapon. He turns and swings at a hooded foe. They duck and attack with what appears to be a foot-long metal spike. After a few parries and thrusts, Deaton stops, bows and says "You could have called, Satomi-san." Under the hood we see Satomi. Her eyes glow red._**

"He hasn't aged a day" Lydia said through slacked jaws.

 ** _Saturday finds Scott, Kira, Malia and Stiles at school for the PSAT. Lydia apparently took the test when she was a freshman. Malia is reluctant to take the exam but both Scott says she studied harder than any of them and adds that "while we're trying not to die, we still need to live." He says if he survives high school he would like to go to college, "a good college." Kira points out that the test only takes three hours to complete and "we can survive three hours."_**

"I sense a jinx" Corey mumbled to Mason who nodded and discreetly checked Corey out.

 ** _Each student is required to place their fingerprint on their answer sheet. The security measure is an effort to keep students from paying others to take the test for them. Scott presses his thumb into the provided ink pad and applies it to the paper. He is then handed a booklet by teacher who we can see is the same man we saw in the lab at the beginning of the show._**

"Oh no" the room, except Peter who was still sour over his money and Theo who was too lost in his own thoughts groaned in unison.

 ** _Students are also required to give up their cell phones for the duration of the test. Natalie Martin takes each phone and places it in an individual, numbered, envelope. The test is supposed to run 2 hours and 10 minutes. The proctor explains that it consists of "two 25 minute critical reading sections, two 25 minute Math sections and an essay writing portion that will last 30 minutes." He then turns to Natalie Martin and says there should be two teachers monitoring the exam. She explains that Coach Finstock is not exactly punctual. She steps into the hall to try to call him "again." She notices his office door at the end of the hall and decides to check there. She finds him passed out on his desk and believes he is drunk. She's disappointed, saying he has "15 years of sobriety" and falls off the wagon at school. She tries to revive him but has no luck._**

"Well damn guys, we finally drove the man to drink himself to sleep" Stiles mumbled out loud. The others just shrugged their shoulders but only Scott had a regretful look on his face.

 ** _Natalie Martin reports that she can't find Coach but offers instead to get Mr. Yukimura who is upstairs grading papers. He says they need to start the test but will seek out the other teacher during the first break. He starts the test. Scott seems to know the answers and is quickly filling in the bubbles on his answer sheet._**

"Atta boy" Melissa grinned while Rafael smiled, internally cheered.

 ** _Stiles seems surprised by one of the questions_**

"What's so surprising about a question" Noah asked his son with a raised eyebrow. Stiles just shrugged.

 ** _While Malia seems stumped by the whole process._**

Malia just shrugged when Peter gave her a raised eyebrow look.

 ** _A girl sitting over one row and behind Stiles collapses to the floor. Mrs. Martin notices a pattern of red and white welts on Sydney's arm. The girl says she doesn't know when the rash developed._**

"This is bad" Lydia mumbled.

 ** _Natalie says everything is fine and the girl sits back down to resume the test but then Mrs. Martin takes her phone and orders that no one should leave the room. She immediately goes to Coach's office and checks his wrists. There is no rash on his arms. She then lifts his shirt and finds his back is covered with large red and white welts._**

"Very bad" Allison add to Lydia's previous statement.

 ** _She steps back into the hall and seeing several students entering the school from the opposite end of the hall she screams at them to get back outside, running down the hall to lock the door behind them. Hearing the commotion in the hall, the students taking the PSAT, including Scott, rush outside. She shouts at them to return to their seats. Once they're gone, she dials operator assistance on her phone seeking the number for the Centers for Disease Control._**

"I have a nagging feeling that the CDC won't be of much help here" Hayden mumbled.

 ** _Agents with the CDC, dressed head to toe in yellow bio-hazard suits, enter the school. They proceed to set up a quarantine area in one of the larger classrooms. They have two rows of beds. Each is covered by a clear plastic tent. The outside of the school is also covered in clear plastic. Sheriff Stilinski arrives outside the school. Bio-suited men and women are rushing back and forth. He asks one CDC worker for an update. She says the incident is "hopefully a false alarm" but that the details provided have concerned the CDC and local health authorities enough to order a quarantine. He tells her that his son is in the school which he says won't be a conflict but is stressful._**

Stiles sighed.

 ** _While tending to Sydney, Natalie explains to Scott that they are planning to isolate the sick and wait for instructions. She says if she's wrong the CDC will be out pretty quickly and she'll be "the crazy biology teacher who panicked for nothing."_**

"Of course she would be tensed about that" Lydia joked.

 ** _Sydney is very upset, Scott assures her that she will be okay but she is not worried about her health. Sydney is worried about the PSAT because it is the qualifying test for the National Merit Scholarship and without it her parents can't afford to send her to college. Scott says he's sure they'll let her take it again._**

"Poor girl" Talia sighed a bit.

 ** _Stiles tells Malia and Kira that he heard the CDC thinks it is Smallpox. The proctor who is eavesdropping, says that is not likely because Smallpox is one of two viruses that have been completely eradicated from the planet. He says the other extinct disease is Rinderpest._**

"Weird ass names for deadly diseases" Liam mumbled.

 ** _Malia tunes her enhanced hearing on the workers outside the school. She tells Stiles they seem to be taking it very seriously and that his dad is there. Stiles says he should call him and reaches for his phone but the proctor says the phone won't work because CDC shut down all communications around the school to avoid a public panic._**

"Fan fucking tastic" Laura groaned.

 ** _Satomi and Deaton bring one of her sick male Betas into the animal clinic. She explains how the disease progressed in her pack. It starts with fever followed by uncontrolled shifts including "full unwarranted transformations," trouble standing, and sudden blindness. After the victims lost their eyesight, they had only a few minutes left. Satomi explains that they moved into the woods during more of her pack became ill. Deaton says they need to get him to a hospital. Satomi says that's never really been "an option for our kind." But Deaton says he knows someone who can help._**

"Three guesses who that is" Melissa said sarcastically.

 ** _Melissa McCall exits the elevator at the hospital. She walks past a blond girl sitting in a chair in the hall crying softly. She heads into Braeden's room and begins to inject something into her IV. Derek questions her about it and Melissa says it's Naloxone" which is a drug that counteracts other drugs like Morphine and Heroin. She says she needs to wake Braeden up because the CDC has the school in quarantine. Braeden jerks awake. Melissa explains that she was shot but that she is now fine and in the hospital. They question her about the poisoned wolves in the woods but she says they weren't poisoned; they were infected with a virus designed to kill werewolves._**

Stiles slapped his hands in frustration.

 ** _Natalie is knocking on the locker room door. Scott is inside and can no longer control his shift._**

"Fuck" Allison swore.

 ** _Lydia has returned to the white room in her Grandmother's lake house with a box of Meredith Walker's possessions from Eichen House. She lays them out on the white carpet. First a nearly empty bottle of perfume with an old style atomizer bulb attached. Then comes a dried bouquet of flowers tied with a pink ribbon followed by a stuffed dog stuck to a photograph. She starts the red record player and while the static flows from the speakers she addresses Meredith. She explains that she's not a psychic and not much of a banshee but that she wants desperately to help her friends. She also says she's sorry that she couldn't help Meredith. Frustrated, she snatches the needle from the record and begins stuffing Meredith's belongings back in the box. As she picks up the stuffed dog, she notices the photograph stuck to it. Looking at the image she realizes that the picture of Meredith was taken in the same room where she is now. The black and white image shows the edge of the record player, the wall outlet and one of the sconces inside the white room in her grandmother's lake house._**

"What a twist" Lydia mumbled in shock.

 ** _Kira's Dad comes into the locker room. Scott, partially transformed, tells him to get Stiles. The CDC is taking blood from each student. In line for their turn, Malia asks Kira if she ever gets the feeling Scott and Stiles aren't telling her everything. She's talking about what Scott has hidden in a bag under his bed. Kira is quick to point out that she's never been under or in Scott's bed. She says she's been on it "wearing clothes."_**

"I'd laugh if this wasn't such a tense moment" Stiles said, biting his nails.

 ** _When its Kira's turn to get her blood drawn, lightning shoots up the needle and burns the CDC worker's hazmat suit. Other workers rush her outside, checking for a hole in the suit but she says it just scorched the top layer. She brushes it off as "static electricity." Malia rushes Kira away from the other students._**

"So it's affecting Kitsunes too huh" Malia leaned forward.

 ** _Sheriff Stilinski and Agent McCall question the CDC worker about the situation. But she smarts off at them that since both their sons are inside, they can debrief each other. McCall also heard that it was smallpox. The Sheriff says he thinks another assassin is at work._**

"Trust dad to nail it in the head" Stiles laughed and slapped his old man on the back. Noah coughed slightly and glared at his son playfully.

 ** _Scott's eyes are still flashing back and forth from normal to red. Malia's claws won't retract. Mr. Yukimura says the virus is affecting them in a way it won't hit humans. Stiles says they have to stay out of site but they have trouble deciding a spot in the school that will hold them. They think maybe the basement but Scott says there are "too many ways out." Stiles suggests they use the vault. They decide that the Hales would have an escape route somewhere inside the school._**

"We do actually" Talia said, leaning forward slightly.

 ** _Using a set of blueprints of the school, they figure out where the vault must be in relation to the rest of the school. Mr. Yukimura suggests it would probably be accessible from the basement. Stiles collapses. He has developed signs of infection on his hand. Mr. Yukimura says they're all getting sick. Kira says she doesn't feel sick but he says it is affecting her neurologically. He shows her the answer sheet from the test and it looks like she tried to fill in the bubbles but kept missing them. Her marks are all over the page._**

"Well she might not die like we might" Scott pointed out as a positive, nobody found a positive in the remark.

 ** _They head down to the basement and quickly find the triple spiral of a triskelion carved into the way with a familiar metal grate in the center. Stiles says it opens with anyone's claws. Scott shakes his head "no" but then realizes that his friend doesn't want him to say out loud that the vault opens only to the Hale family. Instead, Scott lies and asks Malia to do it because he says he's lost control of his shift._**

Malia huffed.

 ** _Malia says she will do it but first she wants them to tell her what they've been hiding from her. They think she means the secret about Peter but instead she provides them with an out saying that she knows she is on the Benefactor list. She wants to know how much she is worth. They tell her $4 million. She seems okay with this information. When questioned she says Scott is worth $25 million and Kira is worth $6 million so "they'll take you guys out way before me."_**

"We really need to take the jungle out of you fast" Stiles looked at Malia who shrugged.

 ** _Malia inserts her claws in the wall grate and twists. Light comes from the door lock as the mechanism recedes into the wall and the door opens. The four enter the vault and door closes behind them. Melissa is helping Deaton with Satomi's sick beta. He is now vomiting black goo. She worries that the same thing is happening at the school. The beta dies in the elevator. Satomi cries and Deaton comforts her._**

The older werewolves bow their heads slightly, paying respect to another wolf who lost lost his life to hunters.

 ** _In the vault, Malia lays in Stiles arms. Kira paces while Scott sits quietly. Kira notices a jar on a shelf and picks it up. They discuss how to changed bearer bonds into cash saying that type of currency is almost obsolete so getting money for them would require a bank. Stiles goes on to discuss how the bonds were just gathering dust down there and points out how many problems the money could solve for everyone. He says the Eichen House bill and the cost of the MRI he had are crushing his father. Scott explains that Melissa does this thing where she writes down all the stuff in their budget, adds it all up, and figures out how much longer they have until they lose the house._**

Both mentioned parents sighed to themselves. This was not something they wanted their children to ever worry about.

 ** _Lydia arrives at the school as night falls. The sheriff allows her past the police line. In the vault, Scott is listening at the door. He says "they're looking for us" and decides that someone will have to go outside. He looks to Kira and Malia who are huddled together on the floor. Scott says they need to tell Malia the truth about Peter being her father. Stiles balks and points out that Peter's name is not on the list. This makes him "either incredibly lucky or The Benefactor."_**

"That is total bull crap! Why would I want every supernatural creature dead!?" he almost screamed. "I dunno. Why would a psychopath do something like that?" Stiles challenged. Peter growled but said nothing, his instincts telling him to attack.

 ** _He says if Malia finds out about him she will go after him and Peter will then "twist his way in" like he does with everyone. Stiles chastises Scott for letting Peter walk around like nothing happened, "like he's one of the good guys." Stiles is emphatic that Peter is NOT one of the good guys. He says if Malia finds out about him she is gone and that is probably what Peter is counting on._**

Malia looked at Stiles with a soft smile.

 ** _Doctor Deaton performs a craniotomy on Satomi's dead beta. He says he thinks he knows what they're dealing with and that Scott and the others will die without an antidote. Stiles explains to Malia that he is leaving them. He gives her his jacket. He promises that he's coming back because he'd never leave her behind. He kisses her forehead and she smiles. Derek is smiling as he watches Braeden sleep. She wakes and he jumps up from the bed. She wonders why he is still there and he claims he is protecting his investment. Melissa brings in Satomi._**

"Sure he is" Laura gently elbowed his brother.

 ** _Lydia tells the Sheriff that someone is going to die inside the school. She is certain. Deaton explains to Derek that the virus is a variant of canine distemper. He says 40% of the wolf population in Yellowstone National Park was killed "a few years ago" during an outbreak of the disease. Melissa wonders aloud what it will do to "our wolf population." Deaton says the virus has been "altered" to infect quite a bit faster or, as Derek puts it, the virus has been "weaponized." Deaton points out that Satomi did not get infected meaning she might be the key to a cure._**

"The number of years she has lived, she might have become immune by taking in something that is extinct by now" Stiles groans. "Stiles!" Lydia called. When he looked at her, she mimicked zipping her lips, "zip it!".

 ** _Stiles is looking for Mr. Yukimura in the CDC's triage area. He spots coach and realizes that he is the only adult to become infected. At the hospital, Satomi says her pack was attacked by another assassin with a gun. She then tells Derek how much he looks like Talia Hale and says she used to visit the Hale House often before the fire. Derek says he remembers because she used to bring stinky tea. Satomi explains that it was Wild Purple Reishi. Deaton realizes the tea inoculates her against the virus. Derek realizes that they still have some of the mushrooms in the vault._**

"Oh thank our lucky stars" Scott said in relief.

 ** _The jar Kira picked up earlier is apparently full of reishi pieces. Malia is lying on the floor. She reaches into the pocket of Stiles jacket and removes a piece of paper. Scott, realizing that it is the third part of the Dead Pool, moves as if to stop her as she unfolds it. Malia can't read it because she has been struck blind by the virus. Scott too is losing his eyesight._**

"Shit shit shit" Stiles chanted in panic.

 ** _He tears through coach's office looking for something that might have caused him to become ill. He finds nothing but does notice a stack of Permission Slip/Liability Release Forms. The top few are stamped with "APPROVED" in red but midway through, the color becomes fainter and fainter until coach changed to black ink. Stiles notices black ink fingerprints on a coffee mug and remembers how each student had to ink their thumbs before taking the PSAT. He realizes that the ink pad was the source of the outbreak just as the proctor steps into the room with a hand gun._**

Noah growled, "he better not touch a hair on my son's head".

 ** _Coach wakes up in the isolation area and seems fine. All the students begin to recover as well. All signs of the virus are gone. Kira has now gone blind as well. Scott is struggling to stand. The proctor walks Stiles into the locker room and explains that the virus doesn't kill humans. He demands to know where Scott and the rest are hiding. He says he'll kill Stiles if he doesn't tell. Stiles closes his eyes as the assassin places the barrel of the gun to his forehead and begins his countdown. When he gets to "2" there is a gunshot and blood sprays all over Stiles' face. A small hole has appeared in the middle of the proctor's forehead. He falls to the floor. A hazmat suited figure walks through the door. It is Scott's dad. Rafael McCall explains that he got a call from Melissa. He says he doesn't know what it means but she said there is an antidote, reishi mushrooms, in a jar on one of the shelves inside the vault._**

"Go dad!" Scott cheered with a grin.

 ** _Derek is heading to the school but Satomi reminds him of the other member of her pack still sick at lookout point. At that moment the girl we saw crying in the hospital hallway earlier exits the elevator, gun in hand. She fires on both werewolves. Derek dives in front of Satomi. The old alpha simply dodges the bullets while walking right up to the assassin. She stabs the girl in the neck, killing her._**

"Bloody hell she is a fucking ninja" Scott mumbled slack jawed. "Dude she pulled off a matrix" Stiles mumbled back.

 ** _Stiles is outside the vault yelling for Scott to open the door and explaining how the mushrooms are inside in a jar on one of the shelves. Kira says she saw the mushrooms. Scott manages to stand and using his enhanced vision sees the mushrooms glowing brightly. He stumbles and crawls over to the shelf and manages to knock the jar off. It shatters on the floor and the mushroom spores fill the air. Stiles is resting against the door as it opens and Scott falls out, apparently cured._**

"You're safe!" Melissa laughed and hugged her son. Allison peeked up at Rafael and nodded her head as she switched places with him and sat with Lydia. Rafael hugged his son and felt him hug back as he smiled. Stiles looked behind and got up. He walked to Malia and hugged her. Malia was too shocked to react and just looked at Stiles wide eyed when he said, "I'm glad you survived". Lydia watched the two feeling a longing and a sudden urge to hit Malia inside her.

 ** _The sheriff and Lydia enter the school. She rushes to her mother who says she was just trying to get a little overtime. Stiles rushes to Malia, but she is cold and removes his hand from her shoulder. She walks away from him, out of the vault, without saying a word. Stiles realizes that she saw her name listed as "Malia Hale" on the Dead Pool list._**

"Damnit" Stiles sighed sitting beside Malia. Malia looked from the screen to Stiles and gently took his hand in hers and gave it a gentle squeeze. Stiles looked at her and watched her smile a little at him.


	63. 4-8

**_Stiles is in bed alone. He tosses and turns but cannot get to sleep. Suddenly, Malia is there with him. He tells her he always sleeps in the center of the bed. They maneuver about a bit and then settle on spooning with Stiles taking the "big spoon" position behind Malia. When his arm begins to fall asleep, they flip back-to-back but this doesn't please Stiles either. Malia finally settles it by taking the "big spoon" position behind Stiles. He declares "this is good."_**

"That's kinda cute" Melissa said with a laugh.

 ** _Stiles awakes and realizes that he is alone in bed._**

"And its gone" she sighed.

 ** _Agent McCall removes the rounds from his clip and places them and his gun into evidence bags. He records his incident report on his phone. He explains how he witnessed the assailant, armed with a sound suppresser-equipped Walther P88, threaten the potential victim with the weapon pressed to his head. Scott is listening to his father as he explains that he felt he had no choice but to use deadly force. Mr. McCall comes out of his office in the Sheriff's Station and explains that he has to drive down to the FBI field office in San Francisco for a "review." He apologizes that he may miss Scott's first lacrosse game of the season saying he feels it's a big deal because he is "keeping his promises this time."_**

Scott smiled at his father who smiled back.

 ** _Scott's Dad then explains that what he did was "necessary, justifiable." Scott asks if he's killed before and his father admits that he's done it twice. He says it's not easy and to deal with it you have to remove emotion and compartmentalize your feelings. He says he used to do that by drinking. They embrace for a moment before Agent McCall tells Scott that he and his friends are not reacting to the tragic events around them the way he would expect them to react. He says this makes him think they know something he does not and, when he returns from San Francisco, he wants to know what they know._**

"Yeah knowing would be nice" Rafael mumbled.

 ** _Stiles, Liam, Scott, and Kira are gathered in Scott's kitchen. They have three laptops which are apparently part of a plan of some sort. Stiles describes what they're doing as "incredibly dangerous and borderline idiotic." Scott gives Liam the option to not take part but Liam says he's not scared. The plan has to do with the "visual confirmation" requirement mentioned on The Benefactor cassettes. The crux of the plan is "what if you kill someone on the dead pool but you can't send the visual proof?" They believe that if someone high on the The Dead Pool dies without confirmation, The Benefactor will come seeking visual proof – thereby allowing them to learn the identity._**

"That kinda sounds scary now" Liam mumbled to Mason.

 ** _An unseen patient is brought by ambulance to Beacon Hills Memorial Hospital. Liam's stepdad is called to the ER where he escorts the gurney into "Trauma 2" an exam room. They attempt chest compression and shock the patient's heart with a defibrillator twice but the monitor still shows a flat line, no pulse. The doctor calls time of death at 21:02 hours and asks that someone page Melissa McCall. Scott McCall is lying dead on the exam table._**

The room blinked in unison. "This better be part of the plan or I swear" Melissa growled under her breath, clutching Scott's arm.

 ** _Braeden wakes up in Derek's bed at the loft. She sees him sleeping on the nearby couch and creeps over to him, lifts his shirt and looks at the bullet wound he sustained from the last assassin. He wakes and asks her what she's doing. She repeats what he said to her in the hospital earlier claiming she is "protecting my investment." She wants to know why Derek is not healing, he brushes her question off saying some wounds take longer to heal than others. She demands to see his eyes, his real eyes. When he turns back to her, his eyes do not have a werewolf glow._**

"You're human" Laura said in shock. Derek looked at the screen silently, his tense body language the only indicator that he was shocked.

 ** _Melissa McCall's screams echo through the halls of the hospital. She collapses to the floor in obvious pain after learning about Scott's death._**

Scott sighed.

 ** _Earlier in the afternoon, we see that Scott, Liam, Kira and Noshiko Yukimura were gathered around Scott's bed. Liam is nervous about what they're planning and Kira seeks reassurance from Scott who says it's going to be alright. Liam asks Noshiko if she's done this before she says she's "seen it done." She says it's a terrible idea but when Kira threatens to do it without her mother's help, Noshiko acquiesces. She instructs Kira to place her hand over Scott's heart but Scott stops her. He wants to know what will happen while he's out. Noshiko explains that it will feel like he's dreaming. Scott wants to know if the dreams will be good or bad but she says that depends on him. Kira places her hand over Scott's heart and releases foxfire which causes him to seize and gasp. Back at the hospital, Melissa has regained her composure. She enters the morgue where Scott's body lies. She tells Stiles, Kira, Noshiko, and Liam how much she hates the plan. She says it's "pretty significantly terrifying" because Scott looks dead. Noshiko takes her hand and places over Scott's heart. She holds it there until Melissa feels a single beat. She questions if that is enough to keep a werewolf alive and Noshiko says it is for an Alpha. Noshiko explains that they have 45 minutes for Kira to bring him back with another foxfire shock. If she can't do it before time runs out, Scott will be dead._**

"Well shit" Stiles mumbled.

 ** _Chris Argent and Stiles write to The Benefactor alerting him to Scott's death. The Benefactor requests visual confirmation. They reply that it is impossible to get confirmation because the police will arrive in 40 minutes to take the body. The Benefactor is adamant about visual confirmation. They reply "number one on the list is dead. I killed him and if the wire transfer isn't completed in 40 minutes… I'm coming after you."_**

"Nice" Allison said, putting her thumb up at her father.

 ** _Braeden bandages Derek's wound pointing out that it's just a graze but could get infected. They discuss how Derek hasn't had to worry about that sort of thing before. She realizes that all of his Werewolf Abilities (smell, hearing, speed, and strength) are gone along with his glowing eyes and healing. When Derek claims he can still win a fight even without the werewolf part of him, Braeden challenges him to arm wrestle. As they begin, she pokes him in his bullet wound causing him to lose. She explains that when humans are fighting supernaturals, they have to bend the rules. She says she'll teach him how to bend._**

"In more ways than one" Laura smirked at her brother, trying to put a positive spin to things.

 ** _On the roof of the Hospital, Chris Argent attaches a device that taps the building's internal security cameras. He calls Stiles on his wrist device to ask him if they are ready downstairs. Stiles, Kira, and Liam have set up the laptops in one of the empty patient rooms. With a single keystroke, all three light up with multiple images from the hospital's security cameras._**

"Feels like we are spies or something" Liam chuckled.

 ** _Scott wakes up. He is inside one of the refrigerated vaults at the hospital's morgue. When he looks behind him, the narrow square container seems to go on forever. He crawls through and emerges from a locker in the darkened hallway of Beacon Hills High School. Liam yells "catch" and Scott catches a lacrosse ball as it wizzes at his head. Liam says "that's why you're team captain" then jogs off down the hall and into a classroom. Scott follows, but Liam is gone. There is a laptop open on the teacher's desk. On the screen, The Benefactor's code scrolls to a stop and the "Keyword" prompt flashes. Scott types in his own name and the list of assassins scrolls out._**

 ** _THE MUTE_**

 ** _THE ORPHANS_**

 ** _THE CHEMIST_**

 ** _Scott says he can't kill them but Liam says "someone has to." Liam says it has to be Scott because he is the Alpha. Scott says he's not a murderer but Liam counters that "you are a predator." Scott tries to remember what Derek told him on top of the Video Store, he begins "we're predators but we don't have to…" and can't remember the rest._**

"Killers" Derek finished, closing his eyes.

 ** _He slams the computer shut and turns to see The Mute removing his tomahawk from Liam's back. Liam pleads with Scott to help him. The Mute places his finger over the area where his mouth should be in the "shush" motion before raring back with the weapon and slamming it down into Liam again._**

"I hope this is a dream" Mason mumbled, horrified. "Me too" Hayden mumbled back. Liam gave her a weird look for that.

 ** _Malia is exploring the Hale Vault. Her phone rings, a call from Stiles, and she turns it off. She reaches the safe, rips off the handle and opens it. Inside there is a folder labeled "Malia Tate – Adoption Records." Peter shows up and complains that he's got to find a better safe._**

"Soon rather than late" Peter mumbled.

 ** _Chris Argent is in the hospital corridor. His wrist device shows 28:01 (a countdown until they have to revive Scott). Outside the hospital, Noshiko and Melissa are sitting in Kira's car watching people come and go in hopes of spotting a stranger that might be The Benefactor. The countdown on Melissa's phone now reads "00:26:44." She questions why they are asking their children to fight these kinds of fights. Noshiko says the only alternative would be to ask them to run and hide._**

"That sounds like a better option" Claudia mumbled to herself.

 ** _The camera feed from the roof goes out and Liam and Kira decide to investigate. Kira takes her sword in case it is more than a malfunction. Peter explains that he can't let Malia leave the vault with her adoption records. Malia challenges him saying she thinks she can take him. Peter understands that she has heard rumors that he isn't as strong as he used to be. He punches one of the stone supports, breaking off a chunk, and proving the rumors wrong. Malia makes to hand over the file but Peter stops her saying "I said you can't leave with it. I didn't say you couldn't read it."_**

"Drama queen" Malia rolled her eyes.

 ** _In the boathouse at Lydia's Grandmother's place, Lydia is searching for clues to explain why Meredith would have been in a photograph taken in the lake house. She hears footsteps and wheels around with a paddle as a weapon scaring her mother. Natalie Martin has followed her because she's become worried that Lydia is spending so much time at the lake house, every weekend and sometimes during the week, without explanation. She says she is even more perplexed because Lydia isn't there meeting a boy. Lydia shows her mother the picture of Meredith taken in the Lake House. Natalie knows the girl in the photo by name._**

"Should have gone to her first and saved some time" Lydia pressed her lips together.

 ** _Scott wakes up. He is inside one of the refrigerated vaults at the hospital's morgue. When he looks behind him, the square chamber seems to go on forever. He crawls through and emerges from a locker in the darkened hallway of Beacon Hills High School. Liam yells "catch" and Scott catches a lacrosse ball as it wizzes at his head. This time Scott's claws are extended and Liam says "that's why you're the Alpha."_**

"Cause he was able to catch a lacrosse ball?" Stiles raised an eyebrow.

 ** _Suddenly they are both in the locker room. Scott is examining his teeth in the mirror saying he noticed that he has "more fangs" during the quarantine. He says he doesn't know why. Liam speculates that it might be part of being an Alpha, "like you're becoming more of a werewolf." Scott counters with "or more of a monster." Liam thinks it might make Scott stronger "like you're growing." Then the automated voice of The Mute says "Evolving."_**

"Not a monster" Talia shook her head. "If you were, then you would have looked like Deucalion or Peter there when he came out of his coma" she pointed out to Scott who just nodded.

 ** _Scott turns and Liam falls into his arms, a tomahawk sticking out from his back. Again, The Mute makes the "shush" sign._**

"What is with this bald stitched up dude tomahawking me like this every time?" Liam groaned. "It's more like Scott's inner wolf warning him that if he doesn't become more wolf than human, he would start losing his pack. The mute guy is probably a manifestation of the dangers his pack might be in" Peter shrugged.

 ** _On the hospital roof, a transformer begins sparking and surging. Liam says he thinks someone did something to it. They hear a growl. He and Kira turns to see a Berserker walking toward them. Kira whips out her sword and takes a defensive stance._**

"Kate" Chris and Allison groane din unison

 ** _The lights inside the hospital are flickering on and off. Stiles catches up to Chris Argent and explains that power is out all over whole building. Chris says he should stay with Scott and to text him if he sees or hears anything. The countdown on Chris' device reads "18:02." Braeden places a gun on the table. She explains that it is a SIG Sauer P2 26 9mm. Derek says he doesn't like guns. She believes this is because he never learned to use them but Derek says it's because he's been "shot repeatedly."_**

"I vote for the later" Stiles piped up.

 ** _Braeden explains that the legal clip size in California is ten rounds. She says you always have to count how many you've fired because running out of bullets can get you killed and "also makes you look stupid." She slides the clip in and hands the weapon to Derek explaining that with guns you need distance from your attacker. She explains that an average person can move "21 feet in 1.5 seconds" meaning they could gut you before you can pull your weapon and fire._**

"Huh" most of the people present said.

 ** _She challenges Derek to pull the gun on her. He does and she takes it from him quickly and easily. They repeat the exercise with the same results until Derek leans in to kiss her and, while she is distracted, pushes the barrel of the gun into her stomach. She says he cheated. He says he's "learning to bend." Braeden leans in and kisses him. He picks her up and places her on the table, knocking the other weapons out of the way as she removes his shirt._**

"Must be some serious military training she would give him" Stiles said with a straight face, trying not to burst out laughing. Laura though had no problems with laughing out loud.

 ** _Malia looks at her birth certificate which says:_**

 ** _This Certifies that Baby Malia_**

 ** _WAS BORN IN_**

 ** _Midtown Memorial Hospital_**

 ** _on 11-28-98 A.D. 1998_**

 ** _7lbs 4oz. Sex F_**

 ** _There is also a picture of an infant and two tiny inked footprints on the form. Also in the file, there's a paper labeled "Adoption Request." The page is torn and bloodied. While mostly obscured, the adopting parents' names are listed as "Evelyn Tate" and "Henry Tate." The agency handling the adoption is listed as "Beacon Adoption." The court hearing took place on "12/22/98" with a case number of "BDH093892." Peter makes a joke, "Wanna talk about it, see a family counselor?" Malia is frustrated saying there is nothing in the file. Peter then launches into his defense of his actions saying Malia only heard one side of the story._**

"Haven't we heard this before?" Scott rolled his eyes.

 ** _On the roof, Kira and Liam take their shot at the berserker. Liam is picked up and tossed away while Kira manages to get some hits in with her sword before she too is taken out with a right hook to the jaw._**

"Ouch" Mason and Corey winced.

 ** _While she struggles to remain conscious, Kira remembers discussing the plan with Scott earlier in the day. The couple lay face to face on his bed reassuring each other that theirs is a good plan. They decide they should go on a real date after they get through the latest supernatural threat. They settle on seeing a movie and kiss._**

"Oh gross dude" Stiles pulled a face.

 ** _Liam struggles to wake Kira, pulling her to her feet and retreating back from the berserker. Noshiko and Melissa find the room where Stiles had set up the computers – the kids are gone and the counter on the laptop reads "00:16:13:21."_**

 ** _Stiles is in the morgue frantically calling Chris Argent on his phone. Chris flies through the doors and lands on the floor._**

"Well that's one way of receiving a call" Stiles joked.

 ** _He yells for Stiles to run as Kate steps in says she's taking the body. She assures them she is not the benefactor but can't tell them why she needs the body. Chris manages to get a gun to her head. Peter explains to Malia why he killed a bunch of people. He says the fire nearly burned him alive and left him in a coma for six years. He says he was fully aware during all that time but unable to move and listening to his own thoughts driving him "absolutely and totally insane minute by minute, day by day." He admits he's done horrible, terrible things but says others have committed similar acts and those things will keep happening as long as there is a Dead Pool with Malia's name on it._**

"What point are you trying to make again?" Allison looked at the wolf. "Hell if I know" Peter shrugged.

 ** _She points out that his is the only name not on the list. He says that's true but he is not the benefactor. He says he's just the guy out millions of dollars, some of which he was using to help track down Malia's mother. He says it's a way for the bad guy to prove he's not so bad, "by doing an act of kindness." He says he's also interested to know since Talia Hale stole the memory from him. So far, all he managed to find out is that her mother is a woman known as "the desert wolf." Malia says that means Coyote._**

"You got the desert wolf in bed?" Derek looked at his uncle. "Yeah?" he rose an eyebrow. Now if Derek was a bit more free like Stiles or Scott, he would probably have high fived the guy for bedding a killer who was quite the beauty if Malia was anything like her mother. But since he was a sour wolf, he just shrugged.

 ** _Hospital workers run screaming past Melissa and Noshiko in advance of a Berserker. Melissa asks if Noshiko is still a Kitsune and she says "technically" as they begin backing away down the hall. At the lake house, Natalie removes an urn which Lydia recognizes as the ashes from someone who died at Eichen House. Natalie explains that Lydia's father had a difficult relationship with his mother and when she started saying weird stuff and hearing voices they put her away because he thought she was crazy._**

"Grandma" Lydia mumbled sadly.

 ** _Lydia's grandmother left instructions for her to spread the ashes across the lake on her 18th birthday. Natalie says since the date is "only a few weeks" away – now is as good a time as any. Lydia opens the urn that supposedly contains the remains of her father's mother but instead finds Mountain Ash. She casts a handful of the stuff toward the opening to the lake and it falls in a perfect line. Lydia realizes that the whole building is made of Mountain Ash and she's just laid down the final part of the protective seal._**

The whole room blinked in unison, totally confused as to what was happening.

 ** _Chris demands that Kate back off explaining that they have a plan. She misunderstands and thinks their plan included really killing Scott. She says she is there because she is on the Dead Pool. She notices the countdown on his wrist which reads "03:04" and eases her grip on him. He urges her to take the Berserkers and go. Liam is battered and bleeding. Kira tells him to run but instead he rises for another attack, jumping on top of a transformer bank and diving at the Berserker. Scott wakes up. He is inside one of the refrigerated vaults at the hospital's morgue. When he looks behind him, the square chamber seems to go on forever. He crawls through and emerges from a locker in the darkened hallway of Beacon Hills High School. Liam yells "catch" and Scott catches a bloody tomahawk as it wizzes at his head. Liam is lying at Scott's feet, bleeding from a tomahawk wound in his chest. He pleads to know "why'd you do that?" The Mute appears behind Scott and takes the hand holding the tomahawk. His automated voice device says "let me help you" as he thrusts Scott's hand and the tomahawk down repeatedly. Scott then begins to chop at Liam on his own. His fangs extend, his eyes go red and blood spray covers his face._**

"Eugh dude please don't kill me please" Liam groaned to Scott who was too shocked to say anything.

 ** _Suddenly Scott is back in the real morgue and he's screaming. Kira kisses him. He wants to know if it worked but they shake their heads "no." Liam runs in and says Kira's mother is hurt. Melissa holds Noshiko as she bleeds profusely from a wound in her side. Liam's dad arrives and helps Melissa get the injured woman to her feet. In the sewer, Kate reports to Peter that Scott isn't really dead. Peter says "thank God."_**

"Why would you care?" Scott rose an eyebrow. Peter ignored him and just lifted his own chin slightly.

 ** _Malia is in Stiles' room when he gets home. She is staring at the part of the Dead Pool that includes her name as "Malia Hale." She explains that she's been talking to Peter. Stiles questions if it's a good idea to involve him but she says she doesn't care as long as he can help her find her mother. Stiles tries to assure her that she isn't like Peter but Malia says she might be. She explains that, on the day she killed her adoptive mother and sister, they'd argued and Malia had said she wanted them all dead. She says maybe killing just runs in her family. She tapes the Dead Pool list to Stiles murder board and leaves._**

"But that doesn't make you a killer" Stiles gently squeezed her hand. Malia peeked at Stiles but said nothing else.

 ** _Derek wakes up next to Braeden in the loft. He walks over to the table with a wide array of guns and simply stares at the weapons. Kira explains that her mother was airlifted to a hospital in Palo Alto, California and that she is going there to be with her. Scott explains that he has to go back to the hospital for a bunch of tests since he was officially dead and the doctors are confused._**

"I can guess that" Melissa snorted.

 ** _Scott says the fact that the plan didn't draw the Benefactor to the hospital implies they must have some other way of verifying that someone from the list is dead. Kira says "a banshee." At the lake house, Natalie shows Lydia a scrap of paper saying it was the last thing her grandmother wrote down before she died. Lydia looks at the paper then asks if they're sure grandmother is really dead. The scrap of paper includes what looks like the Benefactor's code._**

"Holy crap" Lydia swore out loud.


	64. 4-9

**_Jordan Parrish wakes up and finds himself tied to the steering wheel of a sheriff's cruiser with plastic handcuffs. Deputy Haigh is splashing gasoline all over the car. He explains to Parrish that he is worth $5 million to The Benefactor dead, and Haigh means to collect._**

"I still can't believe I'm worth that much" Parrish shook his head.

 ** _Parrish is quick to point out that he only makes $40 thousand a year but this seems to anger Haigh who says he only makes 36. He dumps gasoline not just on the car but through the open window onto Parrish's head._**

"The dude is just jealous that he makes four thousand less than you? Man some officer of the law he is" Stiles shook his head.

 ** _Parrish begs for his life saying he can't believe that Haigh would just stand there and listen to a fellow deputy burn to death. Haigh puts in earbuds before lighting his zippo lighter and tossing it into the open window of the car._**

"That's one way to solve this problem" Noah said, not at all happy with what he was seeing.

 ** _Parrish screams as the entire vehicle is consumed by fire._**

"Well if you're lucky you'll die" Stiles says. "Death is lucky!? What's the unlucky thing then?" Parrish asks with a groan. "You'll become him" Stiles points at Peter who groans a protest.

 ** _Lydia and Stiles have brought the latest information to Sheriff Stilinski at his office. They explain that Lydia's grandmother, Lorraine Martin, may have faked her death and could be working with The Benefactor or might be The Benefactor._**

"Highly doubt it" Lydia muttered to herself. Allison took her hand gave it a comforting squeeze.

 ** _Outside the sheriff's office, Haigh reports to the Benefactor via computer and requests his money wire transfer for Parrish's death. Parrish is not dead. Covered in soot and dressed in the barest remains of his burned clothing, Parrish walks into the Sheriff's Station. He makes straight for Haigh who draws his service weapon. Parrish grabs him and slams him against the wall. He then throws him to the ground and punches him. The gun goes off, striking Sheriff Stilinski in the shoulder._**

"You're alive and well here that's no problem with me but do you really have to get my dad shot like that?" Stiles groans. "Sorry Sheriff" Parrish says sheepishly while Noah just shakes his head in amusement.

 ** _Haigh keeps saying "but you're dead" and Parrish keeps punching him._**

"Oh he is dead. It's just him spirit who came back from the underworld to take his revenge" Mason quips earning eye rolls from the others while Stiles gives him a thumbs up, "kid I like your thought process" he says with a grin.

 ** _On the computer screen the message "KILL NOT CONFIRMED" appears._**

"Gee ya think?" Hayden rolls her eyes again.

 ** _Lydia brings Parrish to the loft for a debriefing with Scott and Derek. After examining the deputy's hands, Derek says he has no idea what his supernatural deal might be. Scott brings up the fact that Derek knew about Jackson and Kira but this is apparently out of his realm of experience._**

"Something Derek does not know? Well guess we discovered a new thing. I vote to call it a resistant" Stiles says and Mason joins in his favor. Derek rolls his eyes, "First off me not knowing doesn't mean that it is a new creature. And second of all if it was new we are certainly calling it that" he says. Stiles and Mason pouts while the others agree with Derek. Laura leans over to her mom and whispers in her ears, "it seems Derek takes up the position of the wise advisor when he gets older" Talia nods with a look pf pride in her eyes.

 ** _He suggests there might be something in the Bestiary but Scott says doesn't know where to find Chris Argent. Parrish is confused. He wants to know if they're all like Lydia – psychic. This elicits amusement from Derek. By way of explanation, Scott shows Parrish his Alpha eyes._**

"Psychic with glowing red eyes" Parrish joked.

 ** _Stiles is watching as the sheriff is filling out forms in the hospital. The Doctor mistakenly calls his patient "Mister" and Stiles corrects him with "Sheriff."_**

Noah shakes his head fondly.

 ** _The doctor explains that they're going to perform surgery "first thing in the morning" and that it will take some digging to get the bullet out. The sheriff wants an explanation of some of the information on the forms. It is a list of materials and supplies to be used during the procedure. Each item comes with the caveat "Balance Patient Responsibility" out to the side. The Doctor explains that those charges not covered by the insurance will be Sheriff's Stilinski's responsibility to pay. The Sheriff seems concerned about the expense involved but the doctor says that is between him and his insurer. The doctor leaves after explaining that he gave him Morphine and he'll soon start to feel it._**

"What's the point of insurance when it doesn't even cover medical expenses completely. Or at least the surgical part of it" Laura grumbles.

 ** _Stiles chews on his thumbnail nervously and his father tells him to stop it. He claims he was just curious about the terminology on the forms and that "we're not in any kind of dire straits." Stiles knows he is lying because he has seen the bills. He says he knows about the debt collectors calling about Eichen House and about the advance (loan) on his salary the Sheriff got from the department and the credit cards he's been using to help pay off some Stiles' medical expenses._**

"oooh wrong time there dude" Scott winces.

 ** _His father is surprised and angry that Stiles is "going through my stuff" but his son says he has to go through the stuff because his dad keeps things from him. The sheriff explains that he keeps things from him because Stiles doesn't need to know everything. Stiles counters that he does need to know everything in order to take care of his father. The Sheriff begins to shout, "you're not supposed to take care of me! I'm the dad you're the son! You get it? Dad! (indicating himself) Son! (pointing at Stiles)" Stiles sits in the hospital room chair. He looks at his father and says "we're supposed to take care of each other."_**

Noah sighs and pulls Stiles into a one arm hug, "yes we should do that but I'm still the dad and the scale of taking care tips more towards me. So no more going through my stuff" he says. Stiles peeks at him then back at the ground, "no promises". Claudia sighs a little to herself, watching father and son.

 ** _Calmer now, his father assures him that they will be alright. When Stiles asks how he knows this the Sheriff admits he doesn't "but the morphine's kickin' in and I'm not all that worried about anything right now." He closes his eyes and groans softly. Stiles returns to biting his thumbnail and whispers "I am."_**

"that was a little funny" Mason whispers to Liam who nods a little.

 ** _Derek, Lydia and Scott have apparently been trying to explain the supernatural to Deputy Parrish without much success. He asks them to explain "kamina" to him again. Scott says they'll get back to that but for now all Parrish needs to know is that everyone "like us, everyone with some kind of supernatural ability is on The Dead Pool." Parrish protests that he doesn't even know what kind of supernatural he is but they say it doesn't matter. When he queries the number of assassins out to get them, Lydia says they've started to lose count._**

"That is a fine news" Allison groans.

 ** _This leads them to discuss if the list has spread beyond the "professional" killer realm. Parrish says he doubts Deputy Haigh has ever done anything like this before. Derek points out that if it's true then anyone with access to the dead pool can take a chance on cashing in on a kill._**

"Great now amateurs are in on the grab too" Lydia mumbled.

 ** _As they discuss how easy it is to get a copy of the dead pool in the loft, Liam is trying to sleep at his house. He is interrupted by his printer which begins to spit out page after page of the dead pool list. This version of the "ALLISON" list has some names crossed off and one name conspicuously absent._**

 ** _SEAN WALCOTT 250_**

 ** _DAVID WALCOTT 250_**

 ** _MICHAEL WALCOTT 250_**

 ** _CHRISTINA WALCOTT 250_**

 ** _LYDIA MARTIN 20_**

 ** _SCOTT MCCALL 25_**

 ** _DEMARCO MONTANA 250_**

 ** _CARRIE HUDSON 250_**

 ** _Derek Hale's name used to be between DeMarco and Carrie but his name is gone and the space is left blank on this new list._**

"SO that's a confirmation we did not need" Talia mumbled to herself.

 ** _The AIDEN list now has a few names crossed off as well._**

 ** _KATE ARGENT 12_**

 ** _NOSHIKO YUKIMURA 5_**

 ** _JOANNE MCLAUGHLIN 1_**

 ** _STEVE GRACE 1_**

 ** _TOM HILL 1_**

 ** _BRETT TALBOT 1_**

 ** _REED SCHULL 250_**

 ** _RICHARD BENEFIELD 250_**

 ** _Liam tries to stop the printer but the machine continues. He finally unplugs it and the pages stop. Lydia explains to Parrish, Derek and Scott how Meredith ended up in her grandmother's lake house. Her grandmother, Lorraine Martin, was in love with a woman named Maddy. One day, while Lorraine was at work at IBM in San Francisco, she began to hear the sounds of a storm but looking out the window saw only clear blue skies. The rain and thunder sounds got louder and louder until Lorraine let loose a Banshee scream._**

"Not a pleasant way to come into your powers" Peter winced. "I don't think there is a pleasant way to get into your Banshee powers" Lydia said.

 ** _She called Maddy who, being an accomplished and award winning yacht captain, was about to head out onto the lake. Maddy told Lorraine the weather was clear at the lake house too so she never mentioned the storm sounds or her fears. There was an accident on the lake and Maddy drowned. It was four days before her body was discovered. Lorraine spent several decades trying to figure out how she knew Maddy was going to die before it happened. She brought in Parapsychologists who designed the study in the lake house based on the very latest (at the time) according to every pseudo-scientific theory they could find. They brought in the red record player and speakers. When she didn't get results – she looked into more extreme occult methods including mediums and psychics but none of the attempts worked until they located Meredith Walker at Eichen House. She was, at the time, just a fragile girl who didn't understand the sounds she could hear but others could not. A group of four paranormal experts brought her to the lake house, placed headphones on her and then turned on the red record player. Meredith had a seizure and began bleeding from the ears. Lydia says they almost killed her. She was hospitalized for over a year and never really recovered. Lorraine Martin drove her insane and Lydia says she then drove her to suicide._**

"You did no such thing Lydia. Your grandma maybe but not you" Stiles looked at Lydia with such an intense look that all she could do was nod.

 ** _Lydia says her grandmother created the code for The Dead Pool. She believes Lorraine was the banshee who picked the names out in the first place. Lydia has the final message her grandmother left her. It is written in the same code but grandmother did not leave the keyword necessary to decipher it. Deputy Parrish returns to his department SUV and stares at his unblemished hands. Stiles places the photograph of Lorraine and Maddy on his murder board along with a copy of the final coded message. Scott walks over to Derek's bed in the loft and picks up a handgun. He wonders why Derek has it since he doesn't like guns. Derek explains about his loss of abilities and how "whatever Kate did to me" is still happening. Scott explains that Derek's name was one of the keywords to unlock The Dead Pool. While Scott skirts the issue, Derek says if a Banshee picked his name it means they were predicting his death._**

Laura gripped Derek's shoulder.

 ** _Scott heads out of his room heading to school but stops in the door, turns and goes back in, and closes the door. He grabs the bag of money he got from locker. He takes all the money out, frantically stacks it, and then counts the stacks. Satisfied, he puts the money back in the bag and returns the back to the spot under his bed._**

"Paranoid much" Melissa rolls her eyes unimpressed.

 ** _Liam seems paranoid. As he walks into school it seems everyone is talking about him and laughing. He sees a flash of what appears to be a Berserker in the hallway and remembers the fight on the Beacon Hills Hospital roof._**

"Now that is paranoia" Stiles points out.

 ** _Mason wants to know if Liam is going to the Lacrosse team bonfire scheduled for that night. Liam says he plans to skip it but Mason says he has to go. He plans to find Liam a nice girl "you can embarrass yourself in front of and find me a nice lacrosse player." He goes on to explain that "statistically speaking" someone on the lacrosse team would also play on "my team" meaning one or more of the players would be gay. Liam, still seeing the Berserker down the hall, says he'll be there and runs off. A near constant beeping signifies Stiles' printer is out of paper. He and Lydia are agonizing over the keyword they need to decipher the message Lorraine Martin left for her. They try several things._**

 ** _MADDY_**

 ** _LYDIA_**

 ** _NATALIE_**

 ** _Each attempt gets an ERROR message. In the locker room, Coach warns his players not to "get out of hand" during the "Start of the Season Bonfire." He says the biggest problems are alumni showing up, other teams and alcohol "lots and lots of alcohol." This last elicits a cheer from the entire team except for Liam, who still looks stressed and Scott who seems preoccupied._**

"So the only two who can't get drunk" Mason says.

 ** _Scott notices Liam's state of mind. While Coach says there is nothing he can do to keep them from getting falling down drunk at the event, their Team Captain, Scott, will narc on them if they do. Liam takes off just before Coach finishes his speech and when Scott looks up he is gone. Stiles says all the stuff Lorraine left for Lydia, the ashes and the code, were meant for her to figure out. The beeping from the printer has finally gotten to Stiles, he jumps up and feeds a stack of blank paper into the machine. The action seems to shake loose something in Stiles' brain. He begins to repeat something Lydia said about the clues being for "no one else" but her. He says they've been using words that mean something to Lorraine and should instead look for something she might have chosen specifically about Lydia. He urges her to think about things that she and her grandmother did together. Lydia can only come up with one thing – reading. Lydia says they read The Little Mermaid by Hans Christian Andersen._**

"Ariel" Lydia mumbled wide eyed.

 ** _They try typing in words associated with that._**

 ** _LITTLEMERMAID_**

 ** _MERMAID_**

 ** _Both entries get an ERROR message. Lydia is frustrated saying she and her grandmother read the book every night. She was so into it, she refused to answer to any other name but Ariel for months. She says it drove her parents crazy but her grandmother thought it was adorable. She types ARIEL into the code and names begin to scroll down the screen._**

 ** _TAMRA JOHANSEN_**

 ** _ALICE DUFFY_**

 ** _PAULA BRASCH_**

 ** _TREY LOCKHART_**

 ** _JOSH MORRIS_**

"Brilliant" Stiles whooped. "Nicely done Lydia" Allison smiled at her but Lydia was still looking at the celebrating teen.

 ** _Scott goes to check on Liam and finds him sitting on the stairs at the end of the hall. Liam is still worried, he explains how the printer went off by itself and wouldn't stop. Liam hands over the dead pool and at that moment Coach shouts "what the hell is this!" from down the hall. They rush to his office and find page after page of the dead pool coming from his printer and spreading out across the floor. Back at Stiles', the full list is now visible. The rest of it reads:_**

 ** _ELISA CHIN_**

 ** _PETER MCELROY_**

 ** _TAYLOR FREEMAN_**

 ** _TERRANCE SHUMAN_**

 ** _LORRAINE MARTIN_**

 ** _Stiles printer is also going off, printing dead pools. Realizing what is happening he decides to call Scott. At school, Scott retrieves one of the pages from the floor of Coach's office. He and Liam realize that Derek's name is missing from the list. The other change is in Liam's bounty – whereas he was worth $3 million before, he is now worth $18 million. Meredith Walkers name, just below Liam's, is also crossed off the list._**

"Guess you got more important" Mason elbowed Liam who groaned.

 ** _Lydia and Stiles go to the Sheriff's station to have Parrish run the names on this new list. He calls it an "already dead pool" because all the people on it are deceased. They all died by suicide at Eichen House within the past 10 years._**

"Coincidence?" Lydia tilted her head.

 ** _On Parrish's laptop we see the "INCIDENT REPORT" for Elisa Chin._**

 ** _ELISA CHIN_**

 ** _221 KARRY RD APT #4 BEACON HILLS, CA 95931_**

 ** _She was 5'1", 126 lbs. and was 30 years old, born on "3/11" with no year provided._**

 ** _She was last seen at 0723 (7:23 AM) and was found dead at 0932 (9:32 AM) at Eichen House._**

 ** _In the Beacon Hills High School courtyard, a "metal cyclone" is rigged with natural gas jets and set on fire with a torch. The flames race up the cone-shaped sculpture eliciting shouts from the crowd of students. The DJ begins to spin and the crowd sways and jumps to the music. One of the Security Guards approaches the DJ booth. The two lean in close to each other and exchange words. There are several other, identically dressed, security guards watching the crowd. A number of the students are drinking from red solo cups while others drink straight from flasks and bottles. The lacrosse team is all decked out in their jerseys. Scott realizes that he is overdressed in his black button down shirt._**

"Of course he is" Stiles laughed joined in by his peers while Scott sank into his sit.

 ** _He scans the crowd and spots Malia on slight rise overlooking the action. She is dancing and drinking from a silver flask. He goes to her and asks her what she's doing. She says getting drunk and asks him what he's doing. Scott says he's trying to make sure no one gets hurt to which she replies "that sounds like fun too." Scott points out that Werewolves can't get drunk thanks in part to their healing ability. She says Scott should tell Liam that. He is sitting on a picnic table with Mason. Liam is pouring booze into a plastic pop bottle and guzzling it down. Lydia and Stiles conspire to get the files from the 10 Eichen House suicides. They decide to try to bribe Brunski to let them see the files._**

Something tells me that won't work" Alison mumbled.

 ** _Liam wonders why Mason isn't telling him to slow down on the booze. Mason says "I think you should get drunk and I mean stumbling down, fall on your ass, passed out face-in-the-toilet drunk." Mason says maybe if Liam was that drunk he might actually be too drunk to lie and might tell him what's been wrong with him lately. Mason says he's not asking just to know – he wants to help._**

"aww isn't that nice" The looked at the pair who were chuckling to themselves.

 ** _Liam sees Scott with Malia and says he's going to get another drink and is already feeling drunk. Brunski tells Lydia and Stiles that he will let them see the files for $1000 dollars. He says he knows Stiles doesn't have that kind of money because if he did, he would pay his bill. He turns to Lydia who produces $500 from her wallet. She places the money on his desk as Brunski turns to his cassette boombox, presses eject, takes out a tape and flips it over before reinserting it and pressing play. Stiles and Lydia realize the cassette (labeled "mixtape") is identical to the ones distributed by The Benefactor._**

"Good point" Rafael mumbled.

 ** _Brunski picks up the money, sniffs it, grabs his keys, and cheerfully leads them to the file room._**

"creep just sniffed my money" Lydia pulled a face.

 ** _Scott tries to explain why he didn't tell Malia about Peter. He says it was to protect her. She says that's what Peter said Scott would say. She says her father thinks they were right to try to protect her. Scott is suspicious and wonders what Peter really wants. Scott says they need to stay together, him, her and Stiles but Malia doesn't want to talk about her estranged boyfriend._**

"Couples spat" Mason mumbled to Liam who tried not lough out loud.

 ** _Malia begins to sway as if unsteady on her feet. Her words are slightly slurred and she almost falls down when she tries to walk away. Scott catches her and realizes that she is actually drunk, which should be impossible. He sees Liam is stumbling too and becomes concerned. Malia says drunk doesn't feel as good as she'd hoped._**

The room laughed at Malia's words.

 ** _Brunski opens the door to the Records Room and Stiles and Lydia set about looking for the files but Stiles notices that Lydia wrote his name on the list. She doesn't remember doing it. Brunski comes back and says "it was the tapes wasn't it?" He is holding his high-powered tazer which he uses to down Stiles. He then turns to Lydia and says "your turn sweetheart."_**

And whatever fun moment they had the previous comments evaporated instantly.

 ** _Braeden, dressed in a pantsuit and with a badge hanging on a chain around her neck, visits Deputy Haigh in the interrogation room at the Sheriff's Station. She claims to be a U. S. Marshal working the case with the local authorities. She says she has a few questions for him but he has a question for her, "where'd you get those scars." Braeden answers honestly saying it was a werewolf. She then asks how he broke his nose. Before he can say "what's that supposed to mean" she breaks his nose with a single punch._**

"That was amusing" Stiles says but not many responded.

 ** _Scott is trying to figure out what is making Malia woozy. She says there was vodka in the flask, he smells it. Now Scott is beginning to feel the effects of whatever it is too. Looking through the printouts of all the suicides at Eichen House, Parrish realizes that they were all reported by "L. Brunski"._**

"Of course it had to be the creep" Lydia mumbled.

 ** _Lydia screams for help but Stiles says everyone in the place is screaming and no one is listening. They are tied to a metal support beam with padded restraints like the ones used on patients. She explains how all the suicides in the place were murders and that her grandmother knew she would figure it out. Brunski says "once you were able to predict your own." Brunski says they were not murders. He is offended saying he is not some serial killer like Ted Bundy going around cutting up college girls. Stiles calls him an Angel of Death, a reference to medical workers who see killing some patients as an act of mercy. Brunski says they don't understand his level of commitment to his work there. He says people need more than treatment, they need release. He says he helped them and now he wants Lydia to help him because something Lorraine said has "always bothered" him. He has a cassette with "Lorraine Martin" written in felt tip pen._**

"Oh no he won't" Stiles growled which surprised the werewolves since it sounded very close to a wolf growl.

 ** _Scott brings Malia a bottle water. He asks Mason how much Liam, who is now sitting and swaying, has had to drink. Mason says it's not enough to "get him like this." Scott begins to really feel whatever it is and loses his balance. His vision blurs. He's had nothing to drink, "not even a sip," and begins looking around for an alternate cause. He focuses his hearing and can just make out a separate track underneath the music the DJ is playing. He realizes that it's not the drinks but the music that is making them dizzy and sick._**

"Great we got the tune of death to worry about now" Liam muttered.

 ** _At Eichen House, Brunski hits play on the cassette deck and we hear him talking with Lorraine Martin. He explains that she will have trouble breathing. Stiles starts talking, urging Lydia not to listen. He shouts at Brunski to turn it off and gets a punch in the face. Through her gasps, Lorraine says "Please don't hurt her… …Ariel." Then she dies._**

Lydia hiccups a little and puts her hands over her mouth.

 ** _Scott says he has to turn off the music and tells Mason not to let Liam and Malia out of his sight. As Scott stumbles toward the stage, the DJ turns up whatever sonic weapon he's using causing Scott to grimace and collapse in place. Security Guards pick him up. They also grab Malia and Liam. The head guard claims they are "overly intoxicated" and says they need to be escorted out. When Mason protests he is knocked to the ground._**

Now it was Liam's turn to growl in anger.

 ** _Scott, Malia and Liam are dumped in a pile just inside the school hallway. Scott sees the gas can in the head guard's hand and asks him about it. The man replies "Haigh says we gotta burn ya." He proceeds to dump gas all over Scott and the others._**

"Remind me to take care of that idiot when we get back" Noah gritted his teeth.

 ** _The tape comes to an end and the auto stop function turns it off. Brunski rises and takes a metal first aid kit off a nearby shelf. He then explains how a lot of teenagers try to break in and steal drugs from Eichen House. He says most of them fail but this time it will look like Stiles and Lydia were clever enough to pull it off._**

Stiles gripped the arms of his chair and held back an angry snarl.

 ** _Mason, remembering what Scott said about the music, looks for a way to stop the DJ. Inside the school, Scott attempts to rise but is kicked back down. The head guard flicks his zippo lighter and smiles like a maniac. Scott's vision blurs again._**

"They are all so dead" Liam swore under his breath.

 ** _Mason spots the gas-powered generator which is providing electricity to the outdoor event. He rushes to it and begins yanking at the cord. He pulls it free and the music and the flashing lights die. The crowd groans in disappointment._**

"Go Mason!" Liam whooped and slapped his best friend on the back so hard that he fell of the chair. Mason got back up on his chair. Glaring lightly at his sheepish best friend.

 ** _Scott can suddenly see clearly. His eyes flash red as he grabs the guard's hand and crushes it, closing the lighter and extinguishing the flame. Braeden picks that moment to show up and bash the guard's head in with the butt of a shotgun. Three more guards start down the hall; Derek takes the first one and shoves him into a locker. The two others attack and Derek takes their punches and returns with and uppercut to the chin of one and a head butt for the other._**

"Brother's got serious moves!" Laura cheered.

 ** _The head guard is up on his knees and tries to retrieve his lighter – Braeden kicks him in the head knocking him unconscious. Scott asks Derek "what happened to the gun?" Derek makes a face and points out "You're covered in gasoline."_**

Peter snorts, "Good reply nephew".

 ** _Brunski is filling a syringe. He tells Stiles that, although he doesn't have any special talents like Lydia, he just knew that they would get a chance to do this again. He makes as if he's going to inject Stiles but instead turns toward Lydia and pushes the needle into her neck._**

If Stiles was pissed before and had calmed down from the wins they had in the previous scenes, he was absolutely livid right now. He was clutching the arm so hard that his knuckled were almost white. Lydia meanwhile was too scared to say anything and was silently crying.

 ** _Deputy Parrish runs in with gun leveled at Brunski. He demands that he take his thumb from the syringe and withdraw the needle from her neck. Brunski says he bets the deputy has never even fired his weapon and Parrish shoots him._**

"Go Parrish" Stiles gave out a war cry which scared the people out of their seats. "STILES!" Noah shouted and pulled his son back down and tried calming him down.

 ** _Parrish releases Lydia from her restraints and she says "he killed my grandmother." Lydia and Stiles both start explaining Brunski's role saying he was controlling Meredith and then killed her when she tried to help them. Brunski is gasping but manages to laugh and say that he wasn't controlling her but she was controlling him. Brunski dies and Lydia realizes that he's not the Benefactor. Meredith steps from around the corner and says "No. And… he wasn't on my list. But he was a bad person."_**

"Plot..twist" Mason mumbled out slack jawed summing up everyone's thoughts.


	65. 4-10

After some really intense discussions from the previous episode and a few conspiracy theories from Stiles and Mason, the group restarted their paused watch.

 ** _Brett Talbot and fellow werewolf Lori are running through the rain at Beacon Hills High School pursued by assassins with crossbows._**

"Don't tell me they die" Liam mumbled to Mason who just shrugged, "how would I know if they survive or not" he gave Liam a weird look.

 ** _They run onto the lacrosse field and the banks of overhead lights begin to come on one by one. Several red laser sites find Brett and he tells Lori to get to close her eyes. Just as one of the arrows homes in on him, Kira's sword flashes through and deflects it. She yells for them to run and covers their escape by deflecting arrow after arrow._**

"That was so cool" Scott said in awe at Kira's skill. Allison looked at Scott, shifting uneasily in her seat.

 ** _Scott grabs his motorcycle helmet and an extra one for Liam. He says Kira has found Brett and the others and they need to go. Liam hesitates. He explains that he's not like Scott and he says he doesn't mean strength or werewolf control. He wonders at the fact that Scott and his friends try to protect everyone. He asks, "how are you all still alive?" to which Scott says "not all of us are." Scott offers to take Liam home._**

The mood in the room went down at the mention of their friends deaths. Scott looked back at Allison who met his eyes and managed a small smile. "Go" Melissa whispered to Scott who looked at her for a moment before nodding and stood up. He walked over to where Allison sat and took a seat on the other chair beside her which was empty. Allison gave Scott a small smile and rested her head on his shoulders, and held his hand.

 ** _Stiles is at the hospital with a concussion and Melissa McCall says she won't let him leave without a CT scan. He points out that he still hasn't paid for the last one. Melissa insists that his father has Meredith Walker at the station and that it will take some time to get her to talk and that there really isn't anything Stiles needs to do but stay put. Stiles agrees but asks her to find him a cassette player. He has the tape Brunski made when he killed Lorraine Martin._**

"Detective Stiles is on the case" Laura said with a smirk while Stiles rolled his eyes.

 ** _Sheriff Stilinski is getting nowhere questioning Meredith and tells Lydia he needs a psychologist or a medium. Lydia questions if Meredith is competent enough to be charged with something. The sheriff says if Meredith is The Benefactor "she was competent enough to trick Kate into opening the Hale Vault, competent enough to blackmail Brunski into helping her and competent enough to create a hit list and payout money for its completion." He says she's practically a criminal master mind and he wants to find out how the payments from the Dead Pool work so he can stop it. Lydia agrees that they don't just need to stop the Dead Pool, they need to stop the money. Scott arrives at the Beacon Hills Animal Clinic and is reunited with Kira. They kiss and he asks about her mother's injury. Kira says Noshiko is healing and shows Scott the remaining members of Satomi's pack that she has gathered at the clinic to hide. Satomi says she already knows Scott. Lori asks if they are safe at the Clinic. Scott looks around at Satomi and the seven members of her pack, all wounded, grouped in the exam room. He says they're going to need a lot of help._**

"I wonder how he came to that conclusion" Stiles asked sarcastically.

 ** _Chris Argent disables the guard at a warehouse and throws him through a door. Another guard comes up from behind and he takes him out with the butt of his automatic rifle. Inside he finds hydroponics equipment and a single stalk of flowering Yellow Wolfsbane._**

"I wonder why I would need this" Chris thought to himself not knowing that he was on the same line of thinking as two wolves.

 ** _Lydia is sleeping in the Sheriff's Station while the psychologist is questioning Meredith. Once they're done, the sheriff tells her he should have gone with the medium. Deputy Parrish reports that they've gone through Brunski's office and found nothing. Both he and the Sheriff want Lydia to go home and get some rest considering what she's been through over the past several hours. She insists on staying and insists on questioning Meredith herself reminding them that she's gotten through to the other Banshee before. Melissa knocks on Stiles hospital room door. She doesn't have the cassette player but instead brought Malia to see him. Melissa leaves and closes the door. The exchange between Stiles and Malia is awkward. They share "I almost died" stories. Malia says she's fine and, having seen that Stiles is okay too, says she should leave. The door is locked. They call for Melissa but she doesn't come. Malia says she could break it but Stiles says no because he already owes the hospital a bunch of money. Malia says Melissa is stupid for locking the door by mistake._**

"Sorry for my 'mistake'" Melissa chuckled while Stiles and Malia looked at her then each other their face gaining a bit more colour when they realize why she locked them in (even though Melissa's reason was totally not that). Lydia looked at the two and let out a sad sigh. Allison gave her friend a comforting squeeze on her shoulder and nodded with a small smile. Scott gave Allison a questioning look to which Allison just pointed at Lydia then Stiles with her eyes. "So it's like the whole Stiles and Lydia thing except the roles are reversed?" he whispered to Allison who nodded with a smile.

 ** _Stiles turns the whole "didn't mean to lock the door" thing into a metaphor for how he didn't tell Malia that Peter Hale is her father. Malia admits that she doesn't have much experience in things like forgiveness. She says that some things come easy but other things not so much. Stiles says "like math." Malia admits she hates math and Stiles asks if she hates him. She admits she likes him a lot and they kiss. As they relax their embrace, the door opens on its own._**

"Sure! 'on its own'" Stiles said, looking at Melissa with squinted eyes.

 ** _Chris Argent returns to Argent Arms Internationaland places the yellow wolfsbane stalk inside a safe hidden in one of the walls. He sees muddy footprints and is immediately on his guard, weapon raised. A shadowy figure appears behind one of the hanging pieces of plastic and Chris is ready to fire but one of Sanomi's metal spikes grazes his hand and embeds itself into the wall behind him. Brett is suddenly facing off with Chris, fangs bared. Chris has his pistol up and ready in a second but is stopped by a shout from Scott. Chris says in future if he plans to bring guests he could call._**

"That would be appreciated" Chris said with a smile.

 ** _Satomi says she and Chris have met before and despite Scott's assurances, wonders if he is just like the other hunters who attacked Brett and Lori at the school. Chris says if they were killing for profit, they're no longer Hunters. He expects they already know Satomi's pack is there and are probably waiting for dark. Satomi says they've been trying to get out of the area for days and everywhere they turn there is someone new trying to kill them. Scott says Lydia needs more time to get answers from Meredith. Chris says they'll get her the time she needs. Stiles and Malia are back at his house listening to the tape Brunski made when he killed Lorraine. On it Lorraine says there is something she has to do. Brunski says they have to return her to Eichen House but Lorraine says she knows they're not going back because she can hear the "recorder in your pocket." She says he plans to record her death just as he did "the others." Stiles realizes that her murder didn't happen at Eichin House. They listen to the tape again to try to figure out where Lorraine died._**

"Now that is interesting" Stiles mumbled.

 ** _Lydia is questioning Meredith. She begins by laying out her theory of how it all happened, "You used Brunski right? You knew he'd killed people and that he would do it again. He used my grandmother's code for the dead pool, he put it online. He took the money from the Hale Vault, then turned the bearer bonds into cash. He made the payments." She questions if Brunski had Meredith fake her death because he got nervous when she helped them with one of the cipher keys. Meredith says she wants to help but first wants to talk to Peter Hale._**

"SO the mental patient wants to talk to the psychopath. I wonder what can go wrong" Scott muttered.

 ** _Malia hears a sound in the background of Brunski's cassette. She says it's the record player at the lake house. They suspect, a long time ago, Lorraine's banshee abilities predicted a whole lot of people would die - the Dead Pool - and she knew there was something in the lake house that could stop it. Stiles and Malia decide to go there and check. Chris Argent places motion sensors around the area inside the Argent Arms warehouse. Scott called in Derek to help. Derek says Satomi's pack has "claws and fangs" but are not fighters. He then points out that he no longer has claws and fangs. Braeden says that's why Derek called her. Kira says she hopes it's all just a false alarm. That they could wait there all night and nothing would happen._**

"As if our luck was that good" Stiles laughed.

 ** _Scott says Lydia is still talking to Meredith while Stiles and Malia head to the lake house. He says they're trying to stop it. Brett steps in and asks "what if there is no stopping it? What if it doesn't end until we're all dead?" Derek rallies the group with a speech about sending a message to all who would come against them. He says it doesn't matter if they are trained assassins, hunters or just some amateur who picked up a gun, if they think they can kill them for money then they get to be a name on "our dead pool."_**

"Nice speech brother, a little murderous but nice all together" Laura said with a smile as Derek scowled.

 ** _Peter Hale is incredulous that Meredith is the person who ripped him off and planned the killings but the Sheriff insists that he go into the interrogation room and find out what Meredith has to say. He asks her where to find what's left of his money. The girl reaches up and touches his face and points out that all his burns are gone. Lydia realizes that they've met before._**

"Back when he was in a coma?" Lydia thought to herself.

 ** _Chris says he remembers Satomi but that she was not a Buddhist when they met before. She counters that he wasn't protecting werewolves back then either. He questions her about the mantra her pack uses "Three things cannot be long hidden, the sun, the moon, and the truth." Satomi says for her "the truth" is that werewolves are violent creatures who eventually won't be able to control their violent impulses. The mantra helps subdue their nature. Chris points out that they are still violent creatures to which Satomi replies "aren't we all." The motion-sensor alarms begin going off around the warehouse._**

"Well that was a nice little chat" Theo says.

 ** _Peter is yelling at Meredith. Pointing out that she put his nephew and his daughter on a death list and she needs to explain why. She says Peter said it had to be kept secret. He is incredulous pointing out that they have never met. She says he doesn't remember. He says no, he doesn't remember, but she might. He jumps up, knocks Parrish away, and grabs Meredith around the throat. He sinks his claws into the back of her neck._**

The room groans while Peter just huffs and mumbles to himself.

 ** _Gas grenades fly into the Argent Arms International warehouse. Braeden yells for everyone to get back before all hell breaks loose. Several helmeted and heavily armed gunman enter shooting and Chris Argent, Braeden and Derek return fire. The Sheriff and Lydia rush into the interrogation room. Parrish has recovered himself and is now standing. Both he and the Sheriff have guns drawn. Lydia says not to touch Peter or Meredith because to break their mental connection could kill them both. Inside Meredith's memory we see her getting hurt at the lake house and her time in the hospital after. She remembers a Doctor describing her injuries. "Patient has been non-responsive for several weeks. No sign of physical trauma, no response to external stimuli, our feeling is that the damage is primarily psychological." Meredith begins mumbling, neither the Sheriff nor Deputy Parrish can understand her but Lydia says she's getting it "perfectly." Meredith and Peter had been hospitalized side by side. Peter was in a coma after the fire that left him badly burned and killed most of the Hales. It seems Meredith could hear Peter's thoughts while they were there for "weeks or months."_**

This time Peter groaned when he realized how he was involved.

 ** _While he was in his coma, Peter was ranting the whole time about how he warned his sister Talia that something like the fire was going to happen, that the Argents were going to strike at them, but she wouldn't take him seriously._**

Derek and Laura blinked then looked at Talia who remained silent.

 ** _Peter said Talia made the family weak and the weakest in the herd get picked off by the predators. They used to be the Apex Predators until Talia turned them into sheep._**

"Hey!" Derek and Laura growled. "I'm rambling in there cause I was burned half to death and I'm pretty sure I am not in the right state of mind" Peter defended. "When is he?" Stiles mumbled then looked away when Peter glared at him.

 ** _Peter vows to act as a "Vengeful god" and raze this Earth to the ground. He vows to take out all the supernaturals, Banshee, Wendigo and all the other weak shapeshifters in Beacon Hills and start over, with a stronger breed of supernaturals fathered by him._**

"That just sounds terrifying" Scott mumbled.

 ** _He lays out his plan to hire people to do the killing, he mentions The Mute, The Chemist and The Desert Wolf specifically, using the family money in the Hale vault. He even says the list of targets will be known as The Dead Pool. He says anyone can become a killer for the right price because when it comes down to it, everyone can be corrupted by money._**

"Well he isn't wrong" Stiles shrugged.

 ** _In the interrogation room, Peter releases Meredith and falls back onto the floor. Parrish catches Meredith before she falls from her chair. The Sheriff points his gun at Peter and Lydia sums up the situation "it was your idea and you don't even remember."_**

"I don't think it's fair to blame him here" Stiles said as the room looked towards him. "He was almost dead back then, not at all in a state to think of anything but getting revenge on the killers that burned his family and that the whole thing was in his head, which is normal for someone suffering. Meredith just happened to listen in on his thoughts, a big violation of privacy I say, and made it a reality which Peter didn't want. Thought about a lot but did not want" Stiles explained further.

 ** _Malia and Stiles are listening to the record player in the lake house but aren't getting anything from the seemingly random clicks and pops. Stiles turns off the player and makes to leave but Malia stops him. She still hears the background noise from the cassette, the sound of something spinning. Stiles checks the record player and the table it's on and notices a coaxial cable extending out of the wall behind it. They move everything and Stiles starts ripping the cable up and out of the wall. The drywall splits as he pulls the cord toward the ceiling. They tear away the remaining board and find large, old fashioned, reel driven computer tape drives behind the wall. Stiles declares that they've found the Dead Pool. The fight at Argent Arms International seems endless. A steady stream of identical attackers continues to come at Chris Argent and Satomi. No matter how many they shoot or skewer, more follow. Derek and Braeden fight back to back as well. Braeden says there are "too many."_**

"Whoa really!? How could we not realize that earlier?" Mason mock gasped then shrank into his chair as Derek growled at him.

 ** _Sheriff Stilinski levels his service weapon at Peter's head. He wants to arrest him. Peter defends himself saying he couldn't possibly remember any of what took place while he was in the coma. Lydia again points out that Meredith got the whole plan from Peter. He says he was out of his mind, paralyzed by cognizant. He says Meredith was listening to the ranting and raving of a lunatic, "a former lunatic. I'm much healthier now."_**

"Highly doubt it" Stile said with a smirk.

 ** _Lydia wants them to stop. She says this is what Meredith wants. She points out that three people in the room, herself, Parrish and Meredith, are on the Dead Pool and that's what Meredith wants. She wants Peter to kill them all. The Sheriff still has his gun pointed at Peter who says it better be a perfect shot because "I don't go down easy." The sheriff shifts his aim, placing the barrel directly against Peter's forehead. He says "I'm willing to bet a bullet between the eyes doesn't heal real fast, not even for your kind." Peter points out the absurdity of charging him with a crime asking how the sheriff plans to explain to a judge that a telepathic girl overheard the thoughts of a comatose werewolf and carried out his plans for retribution. Lydia says they have to let him go. The Sheriff reluctantly allows him to leave but says "that's twice Peter, there's not going to be a third.". Meredith becomes agitated as Peter leaves yelling "no, it's not finished!" Stiles stops Malia from simply smashing the old computer equipment. She then realizes that there is a control on the face of the central unit that is accessed by a key. Scott takes several bullets as he orders Brett to get the others to hide. Via video call, Stiles shows Lydia the computers but she doesn't know anything that might help. She asks if there is a monitor and Stiles says there's nothing like that, showing her the room again. She realizes that the wine stain is gone. She says the stain can't be gone because she bribed Brunski with the $500 she was saving for the carpet cleaning. Knowing that red wine stains don't just disappear, she realizes that it might not have been wine she spilled. Since the ashes in her grandmother's urn were not ashes, the study isn't a study and the record player isn't a record player, she figures the wine might not have been wine and sends Stiles to find the bottle. It's a 1982 Cotes du Rhone. Stiles returns quickly with the bottle. It clinks when he shakes it but he doesn't have a "wine opener." Malia solves the problem throwing and breaking it. They find a key among the wet shards of glass. Stiles rushes to the bank of computers, inserts the key and turns it. Lori has become separated from the rest of the pack. She is stumbling in the smoke and chaos of the warehouse. One of the assassins has her targeted but Scott rushes in and takes him down. He throws him up on a table and slams his head down hard. Scott then begins slashing at him mercilessly. As he does, Scott's face ripples and begins to change taking on a more distinctly werewolf appearance with a more prominent brow, deeper set dark red eyes and larger, more pointed ears. He removes the man's helmet and looking directly into his eyes begins to slash and growl._**

"Careful Scott, you're beast is showing" Peter mumbles with a smirk.

 ** _He then removes the man's balaclava, he can now see all of the man's bloodied face but he continues slashing away at him. He only stops when the man places both hands up in a signal of surrender and Scott seems to regain some level of control. His face reverts to a more normal transformation. Cell phones begin vibrating all over the warehouse. Scott removes the one from his victim's pocket, looks at it and then shows it to him. It is a message from the Benefactor, "ALL CONTRACTS TERMINATED." The assassins begin retreating from the warehouse._**

"They did it!" The room whooped and cheered.

 ** _At the lake house, the computer reels stop turning as the machinery whines to a halt. There appear to be several dead assassins in the warehouse as Scott, his face streaked with blood, rejoins the others. Kira asks if it's over. Lydia helps Meredith to a seat. Lydia wonders why Meredith would put her own name on the hit list. Meredith says she had to do it because she heard Lydia in the tunnels at Oak Creek. She heard Lydia scream when Allison died. She says that's how she knew it was the right time to institute the plan she picked up from Peter. She said she knew it was time to start over. Lydia doesn't understand why she would think starting over with Peter in charge would be a good idea. Meredith says it's because "he's the alpha. He's always been the alpha. He'll make it right." She says it was never right with "us" because too many people died "because of us." Meredith says they're all monsters, even banshees, "even me."_**

"Gee thanks there Mer" Stiles rolls his eyes.

 ** _Lydia says she doesn't believe that she says "not all monsters do monstrous things." She gives Scott as an example. Meredith says "like you" and gently touches Lydia's face. Meredith seems to realize in that moment the extent of the act she's committed. Her eyes go wide and she says "oh God, what have I done?" In Kate's storm water drainage tunnel, Peter is pacing. Kate says he looks nervous but he says no he's "rattled" and he doesn't like it. She says it's over since the dead pool is done. She says everything else is going exactly his way. He says not exactly but she points out that, while every piece in his game didn't move just as predicted but they still moved "perfectly into place." Peter stops under one of the numerous water drips and begins catching it on his hand. He is silent for a moment and Kate asks if he wants to bail on the plan. He says no, "not when I'm this close to killing Scott McCall."_**

"Oh for fuck's sake" Scott groaned.


	66. Author's Note 3

Hey guys how have you all been? I know its been a long long long time since I have updated. My finals are coming up and the last few months were hectic to say in one word. I seriously want to finish this story myself as Teen Wolf was and will always be one of my favorites. Give me a bout a week or two to finish my finals and other stuff off and I'll upload a new chapter. Thank you to all those who stuck with me this far. Your love for my story is what is keeping me going otherwise I would not have continued this story. Hope to see your reviews soon and till then stay safe, stay happy, have a wonderful year and a belated Happy New Year from this guy on a laptop ^_^


	67. 4-11

"You will not touch my son!" Rafael stood up looking at Peter with pure rage which made the wolf look at him unimpressed, "you think you can hurt me?" Peter asked with a smirk and took a step forward, forgetting that all the wolves were powerless and at human strength in that room. Rafael made a grunting sound and jumped forward, punching the smug wolf right across his face. Peter stumbled back in shock, mostly because the punch had actually hurt. Then he looked up with growl and launched himself at the FBI agent.

Scott was about to intervene but someone pulled him to the side from behind. He looked back and saw that it was none other than Allison. "Hey Scott can we talk?" she asked. "Uh I think we should break up the fight first you know. Before Peter kills my father" he said and looked back at the throw down which had become a full on wrestling match. "Don't worry, your father has people here" Allison said and pulled him away into the room which she shared with Lydia. "How are you feeling?" she asked once she had closed the door behind them. "Kinda tensed because Peter might kill my dad" Scott said looking nervously at the door as if trying to find a way to go past Allison and run out the room. "After you watched yourself almost kill that guy" she clarified adding a bit of hardness to her voice so that it would get through to Scott. And by the look Scott's face, it seemed to have worked. "You almost pulled a Peter back there by almost that guy in the vest" Allison started, "he was going to kill everyone in the room!" Scott interrupted. "But do you think you deserved it? The death of a human on your consciousness?" Allison added making Scott shut up. He looked down and thought about the whole thing. The man might have come to kill the wolves, but it wasn't his fault. Everyone wants money to solve some problems that money could solve. He had seen himself having that moral war on screen and maybe this man had some problems like this too. Maybe he felt that by killing some werewolves, he was freeing humanity from some threat and made some cash as an added bonus. He finally sighed and looked at Allison, "He did not deserve to die" he deflected the question from himself, "he may have had some circumstances that forced him to do it". Allison sighed and looked at Scott fondly, "Oh Scott, always putting others in front of yourself. He isn't the subject it's you. How would you have felt if you did kill him? How do you feel at seeing yourself almost kill the man?" she asked. Scott looked at her, "I…would not have felt any good. And seeing myself almost lose control….almost become like Peter….it scared me, a lot" he finally said. Allison took hold of his hand and gave it a tight squeeze, "I'm not the kind of person or wolf to just kill because someone deserved it. It scares me that I could so easily become that. I could become a second Peter" he rambled on. Allison pulled him into a tight embrace and rubbed his back, "you are not going to become some psychotic killer like Peter, you stopped when you saw the line. It would be a cold day in hell before you ever kill someone. Hell you even gave Deucalion a second shot" Allison leaned back and smiled at him. Scott looked down at his girlfriend, "what makes you so sure?" he asked. "Because you are Scott McCall" Allison leaned forward and gave him a gentle kiss which he returned, "You are the person I fell in love with" she smiled as she said the last part. Scott just looked at his girlfriend, speechless from being confessed to. "I love you too" he finally said, "and I promise to myself and you that I will never kill a soul" he finished with a smile.

Allison looked at Scott with pride and joy, "we should go back now" she finally said. Scott nodded and the two exited the room to find Melissa standing there smiling and drying her eyes. "I wanted to talk to Scott about what we just saw, but I guess you have it covered here" she smiled and hugged both the teens. "Were you listening in on us?" Scott asked. Melissa gave her son a playful look, "I saw the two of you leave. The scene might have scared the shit out of most of us even if we didn't say anything but I wanted to make sure that the two of you weren't going to do something because the young lady finds wolf you hotter" Allison blushed "I will not appear on those parents as teens show where I am painted as a bad guardian" she finished with a smirk making the two teens blush. "Now come one and let's see what happens next" she guided the two back.

When they returned, the fight had broken off. Rafael was now sporting a blue eyes, a busted lip and from the looks of things a broken nose too. Peter though had more on his face which Scott thought didn't just come from his father. His hair looked like it was what they had used to pull him away from Rafael. Both his eyes had blue rings around them, his lips was busted badly, his shirt torn, his nose was like Rafael, broken, his left cheek had a bruise on it from the first punch probably. "I thought you were supposed to be stopping all the fights here" Stiles shouted at the roof. There was no answer but there was sound of laughter coming from somewhere, "guess he finds this funny too" Scott thought to himself. They sat back in their usual seats and the show started again.

 ** _In an unknown location, Patrick drags a black body bag into a refrigerated room where large, human shaped, pieces of meat hang. The bodies are wrapped in clear plastic pierced with metal hooks. As he gets down close to the body bag, something inside jumps, startling him._**

"Well this is a good horror movie start for this chapter" Stiles snorted.

 ** _He opens the bag. Inside, a girl with tape binding her wrists and over her mouth struggles. He calls her Kalissa. She sees, over his shoulder, a collection of knives and cleavers suspendered on a magnetic knife rack. Patrick lets her know that he does intend to eat her and says her fear will actually improve the flavor. He then bares his teeth and hiss/growls at her making it clear that he is a Wendigo._**

"Of all the creatures out there, the Wendigos will always give me the creeps" Laura shuddered.

 ** _He forces her to look at him but instead she looks over his shoulder. Dr. Deaton is there._**

"Yay for the witch doctor" Stiles joked making a few people snort. "Witch doctor?" Mason asked Stiles who waved his hand, "I'll tell you later".

 ** _Patrick attacks him with metal meat hooks but Deaton has his retractable baton and makes short work of the supernatural. Once Patrick is down, he begs for his life pointing out that Deaton won't get paid because The Dead Pool is over. Deaton says he's not there to kill the wendigo but to take him back to Eichen House where they know all about Patrick's "culinary practices."_**

"He makes it sound like he is a master chef" Corey pulled a face.

 ** _A very relieved Kalissa asks if Deaton is a cop. He smiles and says he's a Veterinarian._**

"And that makes things all the more weird for those that have no idea" Lydia rolls her eyes.

 ** _On a secret floor at Eichen House, Patrick is wheeled in on a gurney as Deaton meets with Dr. Conrad Fenris. In each of the cells, glimpsed through bars, there are a variety of heretofore unseen supernatural creatures. Fenris reluctantly allows Deaton to see a patient named Valack who is kept in isolation in a reinforced Plexiglas cell._**

"That place looks like the Hannibal Lector cage from Silence of the Lambs" Allison muttered to Lydia who nodded her head.

 ** _Fenris warns that the last person who went to see Valack "left the room but not the building" suggesting that they suffered a mental breakdown. Deaton insists and is allowed into the room._**

"Those words probably turn him on" Stiles muttered. "Stiles!" Scott groaned, "There are children here!" he complained gaining a snort from Stiles and shouts of protest for the children.

 ** _He addresses the prisoner as "Doctor Valack" and explains that he wants to know about South American mythology. Valack corrects him and says he actually wants to know about Kate Argent "the Bone Woman" "La Loba." Deaton says he needs to know what she did to Derek Hale and if he is dying. He says he needs to know because of a promise he made to a woman he loved. Valack removes a bloodied bandage from around his head revealing a ragged and bloody hole in the middle of his forehead._**

"Fucking gross" Mason gagged, joined in by his best friend and enemy of said best friend.

 ** _Deaton says he's not impressed with Valack's trephination and doesn't believe it gives him extra sensory perception. Valack bids Deaton come closer and the vet does. Deep inside the hole in Valack's skull, an eye suddenly opens inside what appears to be his bloody brain matter._**

"Oh my fucking god!" Stiles screamed and fell off his chair while the rest shuddered in disgust.

 ** _Scott returns home to find his mother standing over the bag of money he took from Garrett's locker.\_**

"Busted" Liam whispered to Mason who nodded.

 ** _He explains that he is late because he was getting extra hours at the Beacon Hills Animal Clinic to get extra money. Melissa McCall shows him the bag and asks how much more he needs. Scott explains where the money came from but Melissa knows it belongs to Derek and says Scott has to give it back. He says he was going to but with the family's overdue bills and their financial struggles he was having trouble giving it up. Melissa says Scott "can save people's lives but you cannot save people from life." She points out that life is full of struggles. Scott says it doesn't have to be. He points out that just one stack of the cash could pay for a new roof for their house; another could pay Stiles' medical bills while one more would allow his mother to stop working double shifts at the hospital. Melissa asks "what about this one?" and hands Scott a blood-stained stack of bills. Scott nods._**

"You know if that stack was not there, I'm pretty sure you would have relented" Stiles said to Melissa. "Nope" she simply sai, making the 'P' sound like a pop.

 ** _The sounds of hand to hand combat are coming from Liam's room. He and Mason are playing video games and Liam is winning. His friend is surprised and says Liam must have been practicing or "did you just suddenly get super-human reflexes?" Liam stammers out that he's been practicing. Mason says he has to go study for his History text tomorrow. Liam doesn't want Mason to leave. He's already talked him into "one more game" four times. When faced with his friend's imminent departure, he says Mason could study with him and asks him to sleep over. Mason, knowing something is wrong, asks if Liam is okay. Liam abruptly says Mason should go as he needs to study as well. Mason hesitates in the doorway. It's obvious he wants to say something but doesn't. Liam lies down to sleep. He pauses, looking in each of the corners of his bedroom, before turning out the lamp by his bed. The sound of the rain against the window seems to disturb him. In the darkness he begins to hear thumping, breathing and growling noises. He imagines a Berserker in his room walking closer to his bed and bending down over him. Liam repeats "you're not there" over and over but eventually, in a panic, turns the light back on. There is no berserker._**

"You should really talk about that" Hayden sighed. Liam said nothing but stared at her making her groan.

 ** _Braeden and Derek are sleeping when the intruder alarm goes off in the loft. They grab guns scan the room. Noting a shadow under the front door they open it. A dripping wet Lydia Martin is standing there. She screams._**

"Well that pretty much confirms I'm dying" Derek sighed as Laura moved closer to her brother.

 ** _Malia tries to wake Stiles. Still sleeping, he mumbles as she points out that he has a practice and she was supposed to be at school early to study for a math test that will determine if she advances to the next grade level as a senior. She looks at Stiles murder board and seeing that his new investigation is "who is the Desert Wolf?" she flips him over and kisses him. Stiles protests that he's not yet brushed his teeth but she kisses him again._**

Lydia fidgeted slightly and looked anywhere but the screen.

 ** _Scott returns the money to Derek at the loft. He responds with a simple "okay." Scott asks if Derek wants to know why it took him so long to return it. Derek asks how much he makes at the clinic and when Scott says minimum wage, Derek says that's why. He says everyone can be tempted "even a True Alpha." Scott is amazed that Derek isn't angry but his friend points out that the money isn't his – it belongs to Peter Hale._**

"Good reason to not be angry" Peter snorted then winced in pain.

 ** _Scott asks the whereabouts of Derek's money and he replies "you're standing on it." Misunderstanding Scott thinks there is another vault underneath the loft but Derek corrects him explaining that he bought the whole building. He says he also has money in bank accounts. He says all the money in the vault was Peter's and they'd probably be better off if the rest never came back._**

"I resent that remark" Peter barked then winced again.

 ** _Scott changes the subject, pointing out that he knows Lydia visited the loft "last night" and that Deaton is working on finding out what Kate did to Derek. Scott says if anyone can find the answer, it's Deaton. Deaton is dreaming. He is in Mexico at La Iglesia on a stone slab covered in bones. He rises and looks around. Seeing a bone shard sticking into the stone, he pulls it out. It is covered in blood. The ground begins to shake and his vision whirls dizzily. Suddenly we see that Deaton is actually lying in one of the rooms at Eichen House. Doctor Fenris shines a light into his eyes and finds him unresponsive. He sighs saying, "they never listen."_**

"There goes our last hope" Scott sighed.

 ** _Malia is trying to get Lydia's attention to show her a test paper on which she received a passing grade, C- or 72, but Lydia is distracted. Lydia is unimpressed. Malia says Lydia's notes are great "when they aren't written in code". Coach Finstock then places another test paper on Malia's desk. On this one, she scored a letter grade of "F" with just 54 points. Coach says he is "profoundly disappointed." Lydia says she'll give Malia her notes. Lydia notices Coach's lesson on the chalkboard. He's been talking about the net worth of some of America's richest men at the time of their death. The list, with the name and amounts listed, looks very much like the Dead Pool._**

 ** _NETWORTH AT TIME OF DEATH ADJUSTED FOR INFLATION_**

 ** _JOHN D. ROCKEFELLER: 318 BILLION_**

 ** _CORNELIUS VANDERBILT: 150 BILLION_**

 ** _HENRY FORD: 188 BILLION_**

 ** _Realizing what Lydia is thinking, Kira leans in and says "it's over, the computers are off" and there are no more assassins. She assures her that no one is dying. Lydia says "not yet."_**

"Not ominous at all" Stiles mumbled.

 ** _Liam is preparing to bench press as Mason warms up with dumbbells. He offers to spot for Liam, pointing out that he is getting ready to attempt 300 lbs in weight. Liam refuses forcefully. He does one press easily and dismisses Mason. As Liam begins to lift again, he flashes back to his fight with the Berserker on the hospital roof. As the visions come faster, his strength fails and he drops the bar on his chest. Unable to move it now, he is struggling for air. Scott shows up with Mason and lifts the bar off Liam. He coughs uncontrollably but says he's "fine." Scott says "If you don't want to be with us that's okay but don't push your friends away too." Liam looks at Mason for a moment then sees the berserker in the mirror behind him._**

"So my reflection reminds you of some mindless killing machine?" Mason raises an eyebrow while Liam just shrugs.

 ** _Chris Argent has tracked Kate to her storm water drain lair. Peter is there. Chris asked how he found Kate's lair and Peter says "keen sense of smell." He asks Chris how he found her hideout and he explains that the bone removed from Scott's side had traces of Calcium Hydroxide which is a compound used to treat water so pipes won't corrode. Peter says he's impressed but then sics a berserker on him._**

"I would have hit ou if you didn't look so pathetic right now" Allison growled at Peter.

 ** _Scott has prepared Derek's loft for a date with Kira. He's strung individual light bulbs from the rafters so that they hang down into the room at varying heights. He says he needs Kira to turn them on. She touches a single bulb and all the lights in the room warm and begin to glow. Scott asks if he did okay and she says for their first real date "it's a start." They kiss. Scott then asks if she brought a movie. She says she borrowed ''Star Wars'' from Stiles who says Scott has never seen it and that he will "kill you if you don't." They both realize that Derek doesn't have a TV. They decide to watch it on a laptop computer but Scott becomes confused about which of the Star Wars movies he is to see. He asks her if it's "the fourth one" but she explains that while it says "Episode 4" it's actually the first movie and that "Episode One" is actually the fourth movie. They decide not to watch a movie and begin to make out again._**

"I can't believe you would ditch my movies for that!" Stiles exclaimed making the rest laugh at him.

 ** _Scott senses something and pricks up his ears just before a fully transformed Kate and a Berserker come busting through the big loft window. Sheriff Stilinski tells Stiles and Malia, who are studying, to drop what they're doing because he's taking them out to dinner. Stiles worries about the money but the Sheriff says Eichen House has forgiven their debt because one of their employees almost killed Stiles and Lydia._**

"I should probably try to get killed by employees of more people we owe" Stiles said thoughtfully. Noah sighed and slapped him on the back of his head. "Kidding geez" Stiles rubs the place he was hit.

 ** _Stiles takes the letter of apology. He is much relieved and says "I have never been so happy to have almost been murdered." The sheriff says they're not out of debt entirely but that "for the moment" he can afford to take "my son and his girlfriend out to dinner." He asks Malia her favorite food. With much delight at the memory she says "deer." The sheriff is speechless at this. Stiles just says "pizza, she likes pizza" and Malia smiles._**

"Deer Pizza sounds good" Malia said dreamily.

 ** _The Berserker has beaten Chris Argent into a stupor. Peter says he promised Kate that he wouldn't kill Chris but he also can't let him leave. He drives a piece of rebar into Chris' side and through the concrete wall behind him. He then bends the rebar across Chris' body, pinning him in place. Peter tells Chris to "rest here a while" saying he's had a hard time for a very long time._**

"Okay I change my mind!" Allison jumped out her seat, or at least she would have if Lydia had not held her back.

 ** _Mason show up in Liam's bedroom. He throws some video game discs down on the bed. He says he knows Liam is going through some stuff he doesn't want to talk about but he's still Mason's best friend. He says since the last good friend he made turned out to be a professional killer he doesn't have too many options for new ones. He says when Liam is ready to talk, he'll be there. Until then, he says he's pretty sure he can "kick your ass" at one of the games he brought. Liam picks a game he says he's never played. Scott wakes to find himself suspended off the floor. He realizes that the berserker is carrying him. The bone-covered creature throws him against the door to the loft. Kate kicks Kira sending her flying into a metal gate over the elevator shaft._**

"That had to hurt" Hayden winced.

 ** _Scott and Kate fight but seem evenly matched with each absorbing the other's blows and kicks. Kira mounts a defense against the berserker using a length of chain. While she gets in a couple of licks, the berserker manages to get control of the chain and pull her to him. He then knocks her senseless. Kate disables Scott with a throat punch and pounds him against a wooden beam until he drops. Seeing that the berserker could kill Kira, he doesn't get up. He asks what Kate wants and she says insight. She points out that "the Argent family has been around for over 400 years, a powerful, wealthy, aristocratic family of werewolf hunters. But yet, somehow, in less than a year, this great family is decimated by a teenage boy. So my question is simple. What the hell is so special about Scott McCall?"_**

"His devilish wolf looks" Stiles joked. "Well he is right" Allison said calmly, she was back in her seat but still very angry at Peter. "My what now?" Scott raised an eyebrow. "You're good looking, deal with it!" Allison snapped playfully.

 ** _Scott says if Kate wants him, she should just take him and leave Kira alone. But Kate says they're all going "to church". Stiles and Liam arrive at school for the lacrosse game against Devenford Prep but Scott is not there. Stiles says everything is fine, that he got a text from Scott "this morning" that he might be a little late. Coach Finstock overhears and freaks out. He can't imagine what Scott and Kira could be doing together that would be more important that playing in the first game._**

"If I didn't know what had happened, I could have suggested a few good ideas" Parish said with a nervous smile.

 ** _Sheriff Stilinski and Malia arrive at the game together as do Mason and Sydney. Sydney has a sign that says "Go Liam." The dot over the "I" is a heart._**

"That's a nice sign" Mason elbows Liam who elbows him back roughly.

 ** _Liam and Stiles are on the bench. Liam is still worried that Scott hasn't shown. Stiles wants to know what Liam is really worried about. He suggests that it might be the full moon but assures Liam it's "not for another 24 hours." The night is clear and the moon seems almost full. Stiles says Liam will be fine but says he should "try not to rage out on anyone." While Stiles says he is only "mildly worried" about Scott's absence, he texts Scott "How late you gonna be? Very worried. Very."_**

"Thanks for the vote of confidence" Liam said with an eye roll. "You're very welcome brat" Stiles smiled.

 ** _Liam says they'll lose the game without him but Stiles says he's been practicing and is "getting good, really good." Stiles is a disaster on the field, getting hit in the head with the ball and tripping over his own feet. After he is hit by a rival player and knocked flat, He tells Liam he'll call Scott again._**

"Really good indeed" Lydia teases making Stiles blush.

 ** _Deputy Parrish finds Chris Argent in the storm drain. He says he's been following Peter Hale ever since his interview with Meredith Walker (see Monstrous). He is unable to move the bar himself. Chris says he needs to leave because Kate is going after Scott but Parrish says there is no cell service and Chris will bleed out by the time he gets back. Devenford Prep is leading 4–0 as the timer ticks down to the end of the first quarter. Coach is apoplectic. Stiles says neither Kira nor Scott is answering their phone and he needs to see what's going on. He reassures Liam that he will be okay on his own in the game. Stiles makes it to his father and explains the situation. As Liam returns to the field, he picks up the end of their conversation with his enhanced hearing. Malia says she will stay behind in case Scott shows up. Devenford Prep gets possession and is coming down the field toward Liam. He begins to hallucinate a berserker on the field. He sees it knock down several Devenford players before skewering number 28. Liam, frozen by his fear, stands by as the players run right past him and score. Peter shows up at the game and sits next to Malia._**

Malia snarled under her breath.

 ** _At Eichen House, Doctor Fenris says they're still not getting a response from Deaton and may have to move him "to the 6th floor." Lydia shows up and stops them. She says she needs to talk to Deaton. Fenris says he's not responding to any stimuli but Lydia says "trust me on this – he'll hear me." Liam has the ball and makes his way down the field. He avoids several defenders but Brett comes out of nowhere and knocks him on his behind. Brett says he knocked him down because Liam is afraid and he "can smell it on you from across the field." He points out that Liam isn't hurt and encourages him to get up and play._**

"Boys. Force is the only thing that works for them" Hayden shook her head. "Hey!" most of the boys protested to what she said making her smirk.

 ** _Malia says that after what happened between Peter and Meredith that she can do "without any kind of one-on-one father daughter time." Peter tells Malia he's "definitely" found her mother but that he wants her to do something for him before he'll give up the information. He wants her to kill Kate Argent. He says he can't do it on his own._**

"Oh you twisted bitch" Stiles looked at Peter coldly making him shiver slightly.

 ** _Kira wakes on a pile of bones. She is in a cell of some sort with a crosshatch of metal bars keeping her in and a tangle of roots running down from a metal grate in the ceiling. She screams for Scott. Brett visits Liam after the game, which Beacon Hills lost. He says he helped Liam because Scott saved him and what's left of his pack. He explains to Liam how lucky it is to have a True Alpha "that means he didn't get his powers because he was born with it. He didn't get it by stealing it or killing someone. He earned it." He says Liam's strength doesn't lie in how much wait he can lift "you're strong because you endure." He says Satomi calls it "strength of character."_**

"Never thought Brett was that understanding" Liam muttered to himself but he wa in deep thought about what Brett told him.

 ** _Parrish is trying to pull the rebar from Chris' side causing the former hunter enormous pain. Parrish says he needs Chris to help him pull it out but the older man says he has no strength left. Parrish sets out to draw on Chris' anger over the loss of Allison as well has his hatred for Peter and anger at Kate to generate an adrenaline rush. He hopes it will be enough to help the injured man help save himself. It seems to work as Chris pushes and screams in pain, Parrish pulls and the bar begins to bend. Parrish's eyes begin to take on a fiery orange glow._**

"My death did come in handy" Allison muttered quietly with a small smile.

 ** _Stiles and the Sheriff join Braeden and Derek at the loft. They're all looking for Scott and Kira. Lydia and Deaton call and explain that Scott is in Mexico and they have to follow if they want to save his life. Scott wakes on a stone slab inside the church in Mexico. He is tied with rope draped in purple Wolfsbane which seems to have weakened him. Kate regales him with the Greek myth of Artemis and Actaeon. The goddess turned the hunter into a deer after he saw her bathing naked._**

"I can bet that Artemis was not a psychopath like her if she is comparing herself to the goddess of the hunt" Lydia snorted.

 ** _His hunting dogs then ate him. Kate says she's going to turn Scott into something his friends won't recognize "what they're fighting, or killing." She then places a berserker bear skull over his face as he screams._**

"Yeah okay" Lydia let go and Allison jumped out her seat and tackled Peter to the ground.


	68. 4-12

Before Allison could do anything, she was suddenly back in her seat and Peter was back in his, all his injuries now healed perfectly. He wasn't the only one though. Rafael was also now fully healed and was tapping his nose to see if it still hurt. Suddenly the screen went white and words started to show up on it like someone was typing in on their laptop. _"Okay we all had our fun. No more hitting each other. Understood?"_ it read and then the screen went black. Allison gave Peter a dirty look and then looked at the screen as the episode began.

**_  
Kira wakes up in the same bone-filled cell where we last saw her. Now though, the cell door is open. As she makes her way down the dirty stone corridor she notes a Berserker standing guard at the other end. Turning to retreat, another Berserker attacks her. She notices the double bands of black tattoo on his arm and knows that the Berserker is Scott. She tries to talk to him but he continues to beat her mercilessly until Kate calls him off._**

With every hit, Scott flinched and his hands curled up into fists. Melissa put a hand on her son's head and ruffled his hair, "That's not you. That bitch Kate is controlling you and it all her fault" she said soothingly. Scott uncurled his fists but he still felt sick from seeing his future self, beat someone innocent.

 ** _Kate explains that after escaping The Calavera Family she didn't know where to go but kept feeling a pull from Tezcatlipoca. She explains that his name means "smoking mirror" and the temple under La Iglesia was known as "the temple of the smoking mirror."_**

"Who comes up with these names? That sounds like someone built a temple for some guy named mirror who smoked heavily" Stiles joked to try and lift the tension. "Shut it Stiles" Laura growled and that was all he needed to know that it didn't work.

 ** _Kate points out that the temple is partially made of obsidian. Kate says the Berserkers were waiting for her when she arrived at the temple and helped her survive. She says she didn't know why they were helping her until recently when someone with whom she was working explained it to her._**

Everyone turned to glare at the wolf who was playing with the neck of his shirt.

 ** _She learned from this unnamed ally that she could control the berserkers and make new berserkers. Kate says they call her La Loba, The Bone Woman. She says they let Kira out to test Scott's loyalty as a Berserker. She complains that Scott's never had to kill anyone despite all he's been through. She thinks it's time to change that. Scott takes out a dagger of bone and stabs Kira._**

Scott went stiff and wide eyed as he looked at the screen. Melissa just rubbed his back soothingly, lost on how she could comfort her son who may or may not have killed his future girlfriend.

 ** _Sheriff Stilinski forbids Stiles to go after Scott and Kira in Mexico. The sheriff wants to call law enforcement in Mexico to help._**

"And tell them what? That some guys dressed in bones and a cat lady kidnapped a kid and shipped him over the border?" Stiles asked in surprise. Noah opened his mouth to speak but Rafael cut in, "I agree with your son there Noah. You won't get any help unless you can prove that something like this has happened. And even if you did, it would be too late" he said. Noah sighed and leaned back in his seat.

 ** _Stiles says there is no time and declares that he is going. The sheriff threatens to lock Stiles up but his son says he will still find a way to go. He asks Stiles for more time saying he will do all he can through channels and if it doesn't work he and Stiles will both go to Mexico. In the loft with a table full of guns, Derek feels helpless. Braeden points out that she is human and she's not helpless. Derek confesses he doesn't expect to live through rescuing Scott. Braeden says she's not okay with that and they kiss. Derek says if he can save Scott and Kira he's willing to die._**

"I feel sick" Peter mumbled earning a glare from his niece who had overheard it.

 ** _Peter comes down the spiral stairs and says they don't have near enough fire power to take down even one berserker. He says defeating them isn't just about firepower; they have to break the animal spirit from the human inside. Derek says only Argent has real experience and he's "not getting back to me." Peter suggests they're going to need help he says "like Malia, maybe Liam, definitely me."_**

"Uh especially not you" Lydia narrowed her eyes dangerously at Peter.

 ** _Stiles is going through Scott's closet looking for something for Malia to sniff so she can track Scott. His shirts smell like fabric softener so Stiles looks in the dirty clothes hamper in the bathroom and comes up with a pair of boxers. Malia makes a face and then decides to sniff his pillow instead. She gets a scent and they're off._**

"Of all things that's what you find first? Not my sweaty shirt?" Scott asked. Stiles just shrugged.

 ** _Liam is downstairs and Stiles tells him to go home. Due to Liam's lack of control during the full moon, he will be a liability on the trip._**

"Harsh" Allison muttered. "But he is right" Lydia muttered back.

 ** _Stiles says considering how he tore through chains during his last full moon they would have to "freeze him in carbonite" to get him to Mexico. Liam says that's great and asks "where do we get carbonite?"_**

"Does he not get sarcasm or is he winding me up?" Stiles looked to Mason who chuckled. "Definitely winding you up there" he said and smacked Liam on the back.

 ** _Liam insists that he wants to help save Scott and they decide they will have to come up with some special way to restrain him._**

"That sounded so wrong" Hayden closed her eyes and sighed making Stiles and Liam sputter and gape like fishes.

 ** _Braeden, in her guise as a US Marshal, "borrows" a prisoner transport van to help secure Liam. Derek is surprised that Stiles is bringing Liam. Stiles is surprised that Derek is bringing Peter. Peter says they should get moving since it's about to be a full moon and Kate may try the same "age regression" trick she pulled on Derek with Scott. Peter says a werewolf can't steal a True Alpha's power but maybe Kate would be able to with the power of the temple._**

"Wait if you can't steal a true Alpha's power then why the fuck are you helping Kate to get Scott weakened enough for you to kill him?" Corey asked. Peter shrugged, "Future me" he pointed at the screen, "current me" he pointed at himself.

 ** _Peter wants to leave but Stiles says they need to wait on Lydia. She's at the school getting something of Kira's to help them track her scent. Lydia finds a jacket in Kira's locker but is attacked by a Berserker._**

"Only way to get a wolf to turn back is to call on it by its given name. Oh you smart bastard" Lydia glared at Peter who smirked.

 ** _Stiles keeps calling Lydia but can't get her. Braeden suggests she can catch up with them on the road. Stiles doesn't want to leave her but Liam suggests they call Mason, who is already at school for study break, to see if he can find Lydia._**

"Great I'm gonna get shish kababed by a berserker" Mason sighed.

 ** _Stiles says he'll ride with Derek and Liam since he has experience dealing with "out of control teen wolves" and asks Malia if she will be okay riding with Peter._**

"Heh Teen Wolf. I wish it was like the movie" Stiles said to himself.

 ** _She says "he is my father, maybe we can do some bonding." Stiles says no bonding and insists that she "play the radio and play it loud."_**

"Or you could gag him" Lydia shrugged.

 ** _Peter encourages all of them to remember that they "might see human eyes behind those skulls" but not to "assume there is any humanity left." He then senses that Liam is terrified of berserkers and says his fear will keep him alive. He reminds them all, "you do not fight berserkers to survive - you fight to kill."_**

"Only sound thing you did was giving them the advice" Talia muttered.

 ** _Mason finds Lydia's car in the school parking lot while on the phone with Liam. He says he'll continue to look around the school to see if he can find her. Liam says to call as soon as he does. The Teen Wolf Pack caravans through the desert, Peter drives first in his SUV followed closely by Braeden in the prisoner transport. In the back of the van, Derek attaches handcuffs and chains to Liam. He strains against them and they seem to hold him secure to the metal bench. Derek then brings out the triskelion disk his family used to teach betas control on the full moon. He says it is a centuries old "very powerful supernatural talisman."_**

Stiles gives Derek a weird look.

 ** _Stiles gives him a look because he knows none of that is true but Derek, also with a look, admonishes him to keep quiet. Stiles then reinforces what Derek has said "very powerful."_**

Derek gives Stiles a smirk.

 ** _Mason searches for Lydia. He finds Kira's jacket and Lydia's phone on the stairs and as he activates the screen a picture of a berserker skull appears. A shadow falls over Mason as a berserker blocks his path._**

"Well it was nice knowing you guys" Mason sighed.

 ** _On the road, Malia has the radio up loud. Peter asks if he can turn it down and she agrees. He asks if she's worried about Stiles and she says she's worried about everyone. Peter asks if he needs to be worried about Malia. He says they have to go through the berserkers to get to Kate and then through Kate to get to Kira and Scott and that it will be "messy." Malia says Scott told her that "we don't kill people." Peter turns it around asking if Scott would kill to save Kira or if Malia would kill to save Stiles. She doesn't answer, just looks out the window at the full moon. Peter says she'll need that power._**

"She isn't like you Peter" Stiles tells him blankly. Malia looks at Stiles and shrinks slightly into herself with a small smile.

 ** _Braeden takes her eyes off the road to look through the metal grate into the back of the van. Liam is beginning to lose it._**

"Guess we'll be joining you" Stiles says to Mason with a nervous laugh.

 ** _Kira is badly wounded. She imagines her mother._**

"What's with all the girls you date picturing their mothers when they are in a life or death situation" Stiles says. Scott shrugs, "Moms are our first teachers".

 ** _Kira says she's not healing because she never learned how. Noshiko explains that foxes and wolves have a number of things in common including healing and asks Kira how the wolves start healing when it doesn't come automatically. Kira remembers it is pain that triggers it. She begins to pound on the obsidian rock near her, breaking off a piece and squeezing the sharp rock in her hand until she begins to bleed. Her eyes glow orange._**

Scott sighs in relief seeing her heal.

 ** _Mason wakes up in the basement of the school with Lydia. He describes "this guy" who had a skull over his face. Mason's phone is gone and Lydia says that's the point to keep them from getting out or contacting anyone. Derek is trying to calm Liam. He explains what each spiral of the triskelion means to his family - Alpha, Beta, and Omega. He says, just like the tattoo on his back, it reminds him that Betas can rise to Alpha, Alphas can fall to Betas. Liam asks if Alphas can become Omegas and Derek says they can. He explains that Liam must use the three status names as a mantra and each time he says it he is becoming more in control. Liam tries the mantra but it doesn't work._**

"How in the world does the statuses even help with control? Also how in the world does words give you control over a beast inside you?" Mason asked. Derek looked back at the boy, "Words are powerful things. They can take your mind of things you wish to not remember or they could make you remember things you want to remember. The mantra is more of an anchor that helps us wolves to stay grounded. It's a symbol for anchors.]" Derek explained to the best of his ability and Mason understood.

 ** _He struggles against the transformation but loses. He rocks the van and breaks one of the handcuffs. The other cuff breaks and Derek can barely hold Liam back. Malia is struggling too. Peter notices. She says she's trying to stay human. He says that's a problem because "Scott has you thinking that control and humanity are the same for us." He offers her some "fatherly advice" saying that facing something as animal as a berserker will require that she focus on the animal inside her because she will need every ounce of savagery and ferocity that she can muster._**

"I hate to say this but he is right" Talia sighed.

 ** _Liam fights with Derek who is still trying to get the boy to focus on the mantra. Stiles says it's not working and, in frustration, Derek asks if he knows any other mantras. Stiles remembers the mantra used by Brett Talbot. He asks Liam "What three things cannot long be hidden?" Liam redoubles his attack on Derek. Stiles repeats the question. This time Liam responds "the sun, the moon, and the truth." As he repeats this, Liam becomes calmer and eventually regains his humanity completely._**

"You should change that mantra of yours" Stiles told Derek who scowled.

 ** _Liam is amazed it worked saying that he thought he would tear Stiles and Derek apart. Stiles says that would have made for an awkward ride home. Derek wonders if he can bring the same level of control and strength in the fight ahead. Liam flicks out his claws to demonstrate that he can._**

"oooooooooooh" Mason waved his arms in excitement.

 ** _They arrive at La Iglesia, Derek is ambushed by a waiting Berserker. He's pulled from the back of the van and stabbed repeatedly by the creatures bone "fist dagger" until Braeden attacks with a rapid fire shotgun sending it fleeing._**

"Shit" was the general thought of everyone in the room.

 ** _Derek can't stand. He's bleeding badly. He says he's fine and urges the others to find Scott. He says he'll be right behind them but none of them believe this. His final words to Stiles are "save him." Stiles hesitates and looks back at Derek but then enters the church with Peter, Malia, and Liam. Braeden stays behind with Derek._**

Laura whimpers a little while Talia looked impassively at the screen, her hands curled into fists.

 ** _Inside the church, Stiles phone rings - it is his father. The sheriff is angry saying he plans to hobble Stiles. He then asks for reassurance that Stiles is alright and safe. Stiles says he can't lie. He says the sheriff needs to go look for Lydia. He says if a berserker is involved the sheriff will need to take lots of firepower. Scott, disguised in his berserker bones, attacks them and chases them deeper into the temple. Braeden refuses to leave Derek but they hear berserkers coming and Derek says she'll need to concentrate on saving herself. Braeden circles around a building and spots Kate and one of her berserkers coming up the street. Lydia says she no longer hears the berserker in the basement but Mason says there is only one way out. Lydia says they have to check and see if he's blocking the exit. When Mason sticks his neck out to check the berserker appears._**

"It's like the thing was eves dropping on us. Rude" Mason mumbled.

 ** _Malia tosses Kira's sword to Stiles and tells him to go find her and Scott. Malia, Liam and Peter turn to face "berserker Scott." Braeden is rapid firing at the berserker with Kate, first with a shotgun then with her pistols. None of it has any effect and he grabs her around the throat and lifts her into the air. Kate asks how much Braeden was paid. The mercenary says "way more than you're worth."_**

"ooooooooooooh" Stiles and Mason went in unison.

 ** _The sound of engines heralds the arrival of two SUVs filled with Mexican hunters. Araya Calavera and her "family" arrive with Chris Argent and Deputy Parrish. Everybody opens fire on the Kate and the berserker. Braeden is forgotten and sits in the dust. Stiles is searching deep in the temple and finds Kira. She explains that Kate has turned Scott into a Berserker. Stiles realizes that's why the kept Lydia away – so Scott's friends won't know who they're killing. Malia, Liam, and Peter all take runs at "Berserker Scott" and get in some good punches but he rebuffs each in turn. Kate runs from the Calaveras who continue to fire on her. Derek is sitting off to the side, dying. Kate's berserker takes out several hunters while she hides in the cover of one of their trucks. Braeden makes it back to Derek who gives her a slight smile just before he dies._**

Laura chokes a sob and buries herself into Derek's side. Derek puts an arm around her and gently rubs her back. Talia turned her glare at Peter and was about to say something when she noticed Peter was a bit off. His jaw was set firmly and his hands were gripping the chair so hard that his knuckles were white. She took one look at his eyes, w=or what she could see from her place and decided not to talk right now.

 ** _Lydia decides to go after the berserker with a baseball bat. Mason doesn't think it will work. Lydia says her friends are in trouble as is Mason's best friend Liam so she plans to "go for it." When Lydia stands to face the creature alone, Mason comes screaming past her with a bat to attack._**

"So much for thinking it won't work huh?" Lydia gave Mason a smirk.

 ** _The berserker makes quick work of them both, sending them flying back down the hall. It then comes after them. Mason says he thought the thing just wanted to keep them from leaving. Lydia says it must have changed its mind._**

"Well it was nice knowing you guys" Mason shook Hayden's hand and hugged Liam.

 ** _The berserker's advance is halted by the sheriff's voice saying "excuse me – catch!" He then tosses it a metal rectangular container of some sort which the creature catches. The lettering on the top says "Front Toward Enemy." It is a Claymore mine. Lydia, Mason and the Sheriff take cover and the sheriff triggers the mine. It explodes and turns the berserker into bone fragments and dust._**

"That was such a cartoon moment right there" Stiles laughed.

 ** _Lydia says she knows the berserker was just supposed to be a distraction to keep her in Beacon Hills. The sheriff says it's because she knew they were trying to kill someone. Mason wants to know who and Lydia says "Scott." Malia, Peter, and Liam continue to land punches on "Berserker Scott" and seem to be getting the better of him. Peter manages to knock him down and tosses a bone dagger to Malia saying "take him!" He urges her to aim for the skull. He and Liam each grabs one of Scott's arms and drive him back into a stone column. Just as Malia is raring back to make the killing blow, Stiles rushes in screaming for her to stop. It is too late though. The dagger comes down but just before it strikes Scott, Kira's sword flashes down and severs Malia's blade. Stiles explains that the berserker is Scott. Liam looks into its eyes and realizes it is his Alpha. This moment of hesitation is all Scott needs to free himself. He drives Peter into Liam and throws them both off. He punches Malia out. When Stiles calls his name and tries to reach him, Scott backhands him to the floor. He then picks up Liam and smashes him against the stone wall choking him._**

"Dude!" both Liam and Stiles screamed at the same time. Scott shrugged apologetically and looked at the screen still feeling a bit tensed.

 ** _Braeden is crying over Derek's dead body as Kate begins taking out hunters one by one. Everyone, including Braeden, Chris, Parrish, and Araya, opens fire again. Parrish says he's running out of ammo and the berserker isn't going down. Chris loads what appears to be a bullet filled with Yellow Wolfsbane into his pistol._**

"That won't work on a berserker" Talia said, her voice a bit higher than usual. Chris looks at the female Alpha bt says nothing else.

 ** _Liam is pleading for Scott to listen. He says "you're not a monster. You're a werewolf, like me." This echoes what Scott said to Liam during his first full moon. Something changes in Scott's eyes. He lowers his fist and lowers Liam to the ground. He then seems to struggle, tearing off the pieces of bone armor. He reaches up and rips the bear skull from his head in two pieces with a mighty roar. The skull comes apart with a flash of golden light._**

"Talk about will power" Stiles mumbled.

 ** _Scott confronts Peter saying he was the only one, besides Argent, who knew about the berserkers and the Nagual or werejaguars. Scott surmises that it was Peter who taught Kate. Peter admits he did it for his family's power "to be rightfully inherited by me not usurped by some idiot teenaged boy…" Peter sees Scott's refusal to kill as a weakness and says he doesn't deserve his power._**

"Typical old fashioned werewolf" Stiles rolled his eyes.

 ** _With eyes glowing blue, Peter goes through a transformation that includes much head twisting and bone cracking. His forehead becomes more triangular and pronounced with deep ridges. His ears enlarge and point and he has bigger fangs than we've seen on him before._**

"Those sounds were not normal" Mason muttered.

 ** _Malia also transforms and comes at her father. He bats her away, slamming her into a large broken stone wall. Peter apologizes with a "I'm sorry sweetheart, we'll talk about this later." Kira gets ready with her sword but Scott calls her off. Peter taunts Scott reminding him that he was "my beta first Scott. It was my bite that changed your life and my bite that can end it." Scott says he better end it because he won't get another chance. Both growl and launch themselves, crashing into each other in the air._**

"That reply though" Lydia muttered to Allison who smirked slightly.

 ** _Outside, the berserker is still tearing a path through the Mexican hunters. Braeden fires past Derek's dead body as Araya confronts Kate directly. Kate taunts the older woman saying she's coming for her next. Araya says come on and she flips out an electrified cattle prod. Just then a howl echoes off the ruined buildings. Braeden looks to where Derek's body lay just moments before but it is now gone._**

At that moment something clicked inside Talia and she looked at her son with clear pride.

 ** _A black wolf with glowing blue eyes comes bounding over a broken wall. It attacks Kate and takes her down, snarling and biting. Kate screams and tries to crawl away from the wolf which is slowing transforming into a man. A naked Derek Hale now stands in the dirt street. Kate is shocked. She whispers, "You're dead." Derek says, "No. I was evolving, something you'll never do."_**

Laura who was watching from his brother's side sobbed again and hugged Derek tighter, wailing "you're alive' continuously. "yeah yeah" Derek said softly and patted her head.

 ** _The Berserker attacks naked Derek. He avoids the creatures swipe at him and instead grabs onto its skull mask with both hands – ripping it in two pieces. With a flash of yellow light the berserker turns to dust._**

"I wonder how the others felt looking at a naked Derek ripping Berserkers into dust" Stiles said loudly and for a moment the room went silent. "Probably trying not to look below his waist" Chris finally added making a few snort.

 ** _Kate scrambles to her feet. Chris takes aim and fires the yellow wolfsbane bullet. It strikes her and sends Kate flying back into the dusty street. She manages to get up and run into the temple._**

"But it would hurt a werejaguar" Chris smirked at Talia who blinked at the scene.

 ** _As Scott and Peter fight it seems Peter is getting the best of him. He throws him into the walls and admonishes him to "fight like an alpha." Scott gains the upper hand briefly landing several blows but Peter recovers the lead and leaves Scott staggered. Peter says if Scott wants to beat him, he'll have to kill him – he then throws Scott across the room. Liam steps up to take on Peter. With barely a glance Peter throws an old church pew which crashes over boy's head. Seeing this seems to set something off in Scott. He rises to his feet and takes on Peter again._**

"Instincts to protect his pack" Peter mumbled to himself, his hands no longer gripping the chair.

 ** _This time the old wolf can't land a punch as Scott easily avoids or deflects every one. He then punches Peter so hard he flies across the church landing hard on his back. Scott then leaps up on the alter saying "you were never an alpha Peter, but you were always a monster." This seems to enrage Peter who makes as if to rise. Before he can regain his feet, Scott leaps up from the alter and smashes a fist down on Peter seemingly breaking his jaw and knocking him out._**

"Awesome Scott!" his friends cheered, Allison and Stiles being the loudest. Scott finally relaxed fully and sank into his chair. "I won't turn out like Peter" he thought to himself with a smile.

 ** _Kate makes it deep into the temple but Chris is right behind her, firing until he is out of ammo. Kate is amazed that her brother wants to kill her. Chris says he doesn't know if she is worth saving. She blames Scott and his friends for Allison's death saying "he's not your little hero, none of them are." Chris is angry, he says "Allison died, she died SAVING her friends" he then asks Kate who she would die for. Kate runs away saying no one can catch her. Chris does not follow._**

"Come one dad" Allison sighed to herself.

 ** _As morning dawns, everyone is out of the temple and safe. Chris explains that there is enough yellow wolfsbane to keep Peter out for the trip back. Scott can't believe that Chris is going with the Calaveras but he explains that he made a deal with them that he would help hunt down Kate as long as the hunters leave Scott and his friends alone. Derek asks Braeden if she is "really" a U.S. Marshal. She says she was but she became obsessed with catching one person and it ruined her career. The person she was chasing was codenamed "The Desert Wolf." Derek and Scott then nod to each other before they all head home._**

"Coincidence she would run into Malia the daughter of the one who ruined her career?" Stiles asked but no one answered.

 ** _Stiles reunites with his father at the Sheriff's Station with hugs and a few insults about how bad they both smell. The sheriff brings Malia into the "family" hug. He then suggests they go get something to eat but Stiles finds that his father has handcuffed him to the desk. The sheriff and Malia leave to get "pizza."_**

"So not cool" Stiles sighed miserably.

 ** _Noshiko meets with Kira at school. She explains that there was a reason Kira brought back the piece of obsidian she used to force her healing in Mexico. Her father has fashioned the black stone into a hira-shuriken known more commonly as a "throwing star." Noshiko asks if Kira knows why the piece is important and Kira realizes it is a "tail". Noshiko says it is Kira's first._**

"She is coming into her powers nicely" Talia smiled.

 ** _Liam is trying to explain away their absence to Coach, apparently they missed a practice. Liam says the Scott and Kira were stuck in Mexico and that's why they missed the game. He and Stiles drove down to Mexico to get them and that's why they all missed practice. Coach is incredulous that Scott took Kira on a date in Mexico but he says he's had "experiences in Mexico that would knock the genitals off you boys."_**

"Sometimes the coach forgets about boundaries" Scott and Stiles pulled a face while the others laughed.

 ** _He then explains that Liam is the best talent he's seen in years and says it is now Scott and Stiles responsibility to stick together, look after each other and have each other's back._**

The Scott and Liam in the room share a smile.

 ** _Lydia gives Parrish a copy of the bestiary, now in hardback, and says whatever type of supernatural he is might be in the book. She says she'd like to help him figure it out. Peter, still woozy from the yellow wolfsbane, is brought into a Plexiglas cell on the secret supernatural floor at Eichen House. He is locked inside but vows to escape and bangs his head against the clear wall screaming that they can drug him with wolfsbane but that he'll still find a way out. A voice from behind him, Dr. Valack, explains that it's not just the wolfsbane but also the Mountain Ash wood that makes up the framework of the cells. He says it's all around them. He then rises, removes the bandage from his head and opens his "third eye." Peter screams "noooooo" and throws himself against the clear wall of the cell. His screams echo down the long corridor of cells._**

"Okay now I feel sorry for the bastard" Stiles pouted. "Only one" Allison muttered.


	69. 5-0

As the episode finished, Sky appeared in a flash of light and looked at them all. He looked at Peter with an amused look which made him huff. _"Right. That's the end of the 4_ _th_ _part. Now you know what I want to ask"_ he said and waited for an answer.

The group talked with each other for a moment, except Peter who was still ticked off because of the whole getting beaten up part before Scott stepped forward. "We all decide to stay and have also decided that we all want to stay till the end" he said and looked at Sky.

Sky tilted his head slightly and looked at Scott for an extended amount of time which made Scott squirm thinking he might have offended the being in front of him who could well obliterate him on the spot with just blink but was cut off from his musings from a snort. _"Right that's what I wanted from the start but all this free will shit"_ he rolled his eyes. _"Okay then enjoy your future"_ he smiled and disappeared in a flash of light as the screen came to life.

 ** _/OKAY SOMETHING I WANTED TO ASK YOU GUYS FOR A WHILE NOW. WE ALL SAW SKY APPEAR WHERE HE TAKES OUT A FEW CHARACTERS FROM VARIOUS SERIES_** _ **AND LETS THEM WATCH THEM WATCH THEIR FUTURE. ANY OF YOU GUYS WANNA KNOW HIS STORY? HE IS KIND OF MY**_ _ **MULTI-FANDOM CROSSOVER OC. LET ME KNOW WHETHER YOU WANT TO OR NOT IN THE REVIEWS/**_


	70. 5-1

**_A crow swoops down onto the metal gate outside Eichen House._**

"You know it's gonna be a shitty year when you start off in a mental institute" Stiles mumbled.

 ** _Inside the mental facility, Lydia Martin stands under a steaming shower there is an angry red scar or bruise on her side just below her ribs._**

"Okay I'll ignore that I'm naked here" Lydia mumbled, "but why am I bruised up!?" she asked. "You're in Eichen" Chris started. "They aren't the most friendly with their patients" Claudia finished with a harsh scowl on her face.

 ** _Nurse Cross stands nearby with a towel waiting. She is impatient and says she believes Lydia is faking catatonia and is just waiting for the staff to drop their guard._**

"I can see what you mean" Stiles said with an edge to his voice. Lydia wanted to add a few things, but her mind was more on why she was catatonic in an institute in the first place.

 ** _Lydia is immobile, staring straight ahead with a blank expression. Nurse Cross demands that Lydia look at her but gets no response. She grabs Lydia's face but the girl's eyes never focus and when the nurse lets go, Lydia resumes her prior stance and stare._**

"That's kinda creepy" Liam mumbled to Mason who nodded in agreement.

 ** _Later, Lydia is led past a number of glassed-in cells populated by other patients. Cross is joined by an orderly, Schrader, and they continue to discuss Lydia's "performance" as a non-responsive catatonic. With Lydia back in her own cell, Schrader prepares a syringe of an unknown clear drug. Cross orders him to "up the dose to 3 mils" meaning 3 milligrams. She says it will truly make Lydia catatonic._**

"When we get back" Stiles growled. Noah put a h and on his son's shoulder, "easy there, it hasn't happened yet"

 ** _Schrader seems to draw some sort of pleasure from injecting Lydia. He slides the needle into her arm but claims he can't find the vein. He repeats the process and a tiny bit of blood flows back into the syringe. He says he needs to find a bigger vein and goes for her neck but Lydia snaps upright and screams causing the lights to explode in the room._**

Stiles relaxed ever so slightly finally seeing Lydia react.

 ** _She is quickly up and out of her cell. Two orderlies have her cornered in the hallway. She takes on one directly using heretofore unseen martial arts skills to incapacitate him. The other orderly is now upon her and she pushes him back with both hands and screams. Waves of power seem to emanate from her hands and propelled by the scream, send the orderly flying down the hall. Several of the overhead light fixtures explode._**

"Where did you learn to fight like that?" Allison asked in awe. Lydia just shrugged, too stunned to answer.

 ** _Lydia makes it outside. It's raining and security guards come at her from all sides. Again, with a mix of martial arts and her new scream powers, she manages to beat them all. She heads for steps leading down to the street but is stopped by a shadowy figure walking slowly up the stairs. It is Aiden, her former lover who died. He tells her she has to go back and finish her "treatment." Security guards begin shocking her with taser-prods. Lydia is distraught. She says she has to get to her friends to warn them that they're all going to die._**

"We should be the least of your worries right now" Stiles mumbled while the rest nodded. Theo wanted to say something but decided to stay quiet.

 ** _Scott McCall is sitting on the hood of Stiles' jeep looking up at a full moon. Stiles has a San Francisco Bay area map open next to him and is discussing how expensive apartments can be in some areas of town. Scott suggests Berkley saying "lawyers live around there" but Stiles says the Jeep would burn through a lot of clutches on Nob Hill._**

Noah snorted at that.

 ** _Stiles has a plan whereby they all go off to college together, no one gets left behind. Lydia would go to Stanford, Kira to USF (University of San Francisco) and Malia's going to "figure something out." Stiles is very attached to his plan and says it is perfect, "a vision, a beautiful vision." Scott stares at the full moon as lightning crisscrosses the sky. He's become melancholy and reminds Stiles about the "regression to the mean" as Dr. Deaton explained it to him. "Life can't ever be all bad or all good. Things have to come back to the middle." Scott believes, because things have been pretty good and no one has tried to kill them in the 6 months, that they've been in the middle and the scale must now tip to one or the other extremes soon._**

"You had to say that" Stiles groaned.

 ** _Stiles wonders aloud if enough time has passed and a small voice from off screen says "yes!" Liam Dunbar is chained to a tree near the Jeep. Scott and Stiles chained him up because during the last full moon he apparently lost control and was running around town naked._**

"uuuuuuuuuuuuuh" Liam blushed while the rest broke into laughter.

 ** _As Stiles puts it "a monstrous dog-boy running around the streets of Beacon Hills naked." Liam says it was one slip up and that he is fine. Scott unchains him and Liam does seem to be in control but we can see his claws have bloodied his clenched fists._**

Hayden bites her cheeks to stop from saying anything, knowing full well that Liam wouldn't appreciate any consolation from her. Liam leaned back in his chair blushing still. But he was more troubled about that fact leaking out in front of Hayden, though he didn't know why that would make his feel more troubled.

 ** _The storm has intensified. Inside the Beacon Hills Sheriff's Station, Deputy Jordan Parrish is working the front desk and explaining to a caller that power outages are related to the storm. Sheriff Stilinski steps out of his office and tells Parrish to check the fuel level in their backup generator. Parrish seems annoyed. Later, he bursts into the Sheriff's office and lets loose all his frustrations on his superior. He has, for 6 months, been given jobs he doesn't feel are important - directing traffic, courthouse security, serving subpoenas and filing evidence. He doesn't understand why he is answering phones when the Sheriff needs every available man to deal with the downed power lines, a jackknifed truck and reports of gunshots downtown. He is frustrated because he doesn't understand what he did to lose the Sheriff's trust. Stilinski doesn't try to explain, he just hands him a noise complaint to investigate._**

Parish looked at Noah who just shrugged.

 ** _The complaint, logged at 7:21 PM, was from Kate Kasinger who heard noise in the vacant house next door at 2218 Astoria Lane in Beacon Hills. Parrish arrives at the house, a broken down, two-story, old Greek revival with large white columns. Once inside, he hears something moving behind a concrete wall. He thinks it is a person and rushes back to his car to get something to bust down the wall. He returns with a combination pry bar and pick ax and begins pounding away at the concrete. He manages to make a small hole and a black, viscous fluid begins to ooze from it. The wall cracks further, spraying Parrish in the face with the goo._**

"Gross" Parish made a face.

 ** _A hand thrusts through the wall and grabs him by the throat. A goo-covered man kicks and forces his way through the wall. He has pointy ears and his hands are tipped by enormous talons. He growls at Parrish and stabs him in the gut with his talons. Parrish's eyes glow orange and the creature's eyes take on the same glow. The goo-covered man points out that Parrish is not a werewolf. He seems intrigued and says "you're no ordinary creature deputy." He then flicks those enormous talons and they being to glow blue and says he's not ordinary either "not tonight."_**

Talia's eyes narrowed at the glow on those claws.

 ** _He then tells Parrish that he'll let him live if the deputy will tell him where to find Scott McCall. Parrish pretends not to know Scott and the creature slashes at him._**

"Of course" Melissa groaned and fell back on her seat.

 ** _Stiles is driving with Scott riding shotgun and Liam in the backseat. Liam wants to know what Scott and Stiles are going off to do at midnight. Stiles won't tell him saying it is a "senior thing." Scott has no cell signal. He mentions it and Stiles' Jeep dies. They get out and lift the hood to find most of the engine is swaddled in duct tape. As they stare into the engine, a bolt of lightning strikes the road behind the vehicle. Liam notices and turns just as another bolt hits, this time closer. He tries to alert the others but they are engrossed in conversation. Stiles is worried that the last-night-of-summer ritual that they have planned won't happen the way he imagines it should. Lightning strikes in front of the Jeep this time. Suddenly the Jeep's engine comes back to life._**

"Maybe Zeus is helping you here" Laura joked. Stiles turned to her with a raised eyebrow, "Zeus?" he asked. "Well Lycaon existed. So that means Zeus might too" she defended weakly. Stiles just shrugged.

 ** _In a parking lot, Malia's dad and a group of people are trying to move a large tree that was apparently knocked down in the storm. He tells them to lift with their legs but as they begin to try to lift the tree, it seems to rise on its own, out of their hands. As it rises, we see Malia is lifting the whole thing with one hand. No one seems overly surprised by the apparent feat of super strength._**

"They probably think it's some sort of Tarzan shit where the wild gave her super strength"

 ** _Malia and her dad's cell phones are without signal. She is apparently waiting for an important email. Stiles arrives to pick her up and she explains that she has yet to find out if her time in summer school brought her grades up enough to advance to the next level. If her grades did not improve, she must repeat junior year. Apparently, Liam knew about this too and Malia wasn't exactly too happy about it._**

Malia grumbled.

 ** _Melissa McCall is in a hurry. She rushes into her house wearing blood-stained scrubs. She believes Scott is home and shouts out that she is turning right around to go back to work. The creature with the long talons is inside the house but she never sees him. After a few minutes of shouted conversation, she realizes that Scott is not home but is instead at the high school. She notices a note, affixed to the refrigerator with a magnet, that says "Senior Scribe Back by 1:30." She rushes back out again and the creature, still covered in streaks of the black goo, grabs the note and reads it. Kira stands on top of her parents' car in the middle of a traffic jam trying to get a signal on her cell phone. Wind, thunder, and lightning suggest the storm is getting worse. As she seeks a signal her phones' screen shows a picture of the car, Noshiko Yukimura and Ken Yukimura listen as their daughters' footsteps dent the top of the car. After a couple of seconds, Noshiko leans out the window to tell her to come inside. Once she dismounts, Kira notices another boy trying to get cell signal just down the road. Their eyes meet and he smiles and explains that his phone is non-receptive as well._**

"Guess this is where you come in huh?" Stiles said to Theo but didn't have his usual cheer in his voice when he said it which the others shrugged off thinking he was still put off from what they had seen at the start.

 ** _Kira worries she is going to be late to Senior Scribe but she can't tell her mother what it is because it is apparently a secret only known to seniors. Ken says he doesn't know what it is either but that it sounds like they're supposed to write something. Noshiko worries that they are going to vandalize something. Kira is unsure if it is vandalism or not. Kira decides to walk but it begins to rain so she stays in the car._**

A few of them chuckled lightly.

 ** _At the hospital, Liam explains that his stepdad, the doctor, is in surgery and won't be out for hours. He suggests that Scott should take him to Senior Scribe. Scott asks Liam to show his hands. He does. They are still bloody. Liam seems embarrassed by this but Scott says he is still learning and it is a sign of strength that Liam is able to remain in control despite the struggle. Liam says he uses music to keep his focus during the full moon but it doesn't always work. Scott explains that Derek thought Liam was one of the strongest werewolves he'd ever seen at that age._**

"He actually is now that I think on it" Laura said making Liam feel a bit flustered.

 ** _Scott still can't reach Kira by phone. Stiles is fretting that the Senior Scribe isn't going to be as perfect as he hopes. Scott says he hasn't really talked to Kira that much while she's been in New York. Stiles says maybe Scott left the door open to Kira meeting some other guy when he told her to "have fun" on her trip. Malia confirms that "have fun" might imply sex with other boys._**

"No it does not" all those in a relationship or where in one said in unison.

 ** _Melissa explains to Scott and Stiles about the jackknifed tractor trailer on highway 115 that caused a major pile-up. This is the road that Kira and her folks would have to take from the airport. Scott sets out to go get her so they can get to the school in time for the Scribe. A suspect is dragged into the Sheriff's station by two deputies. He protests that they are making a mistake. The Sheriff, hearing the noise, comes out of his office and recognizes the boy. He calls him Donovan and says that the judge ordered him jailed the next time he ran afoul of the law._**

Noah sighed seeing Donovan. He still felt guilty about what happened to his father.

 ** _The deputy explains that he was picked up for "B and E" which means breaking and entering. He was also carrying a loaded .38 pistol which he claims wasn't his. The sheriff orders him locked up. Donovan immediately shouts that the Sheriff is "dead" he repeats the threat three more times as he is led away. The Sheriff, visibly frustrated, yells for someone to tell him why Parrish hasn't returned yet._**

The room became worried at the mention of Parish still not returning.

 ** _Scott rushes downstairs at this house, motorcycle helmet in hand. He pauses in the kitchen noticing that his note about the Senior Scribe is now lying on the floor. He picks it up and sees claw marks through the paper. At that moment all the magnets on the refrigerator let go and fall to the floor. Scott picks one up and tries to place it back on the fridge but it falls away as if no longer magnetic. The second hand on the electric wall clock is twitching back and forth. It is 10 minutes past 10 o'clock. Suddenly all the magnets leap into the air and reattach themselves to the refrigerator._**

"This is some major matrix shit going on right here" Allison muttered.

 ** _An earthquake shakes the house. Plates fall from the counter and shatter on the floor. Inside the old house on Astoria Lane, Parrish is severely wounded with deep slash marks across his chest and stomach. The wounds seem to be smoking._**

"He should heal" Derek said but even he looked somewhat unsure.

 ** _He calls "officer down" but his radio only picks up interference from the storm. In the static and squelch, he hears Lydia's voice calling him "Jordan." He then sees Lydia coming toward him. She kneels in front of him and touches his wounds. She leans in close and says "stay with me." Just as she is about to kiss him, the Sheriff shows up. Lydia is not really there._**

"You…hallucinate about kissing me?" Lydia asked with a raised eyebrow. Parish shrugs, too embarrassed to explain anything.

 ** _The sheriff takes him to Melissa at the hospital. They lay him out in the morgue and she scolds Stilinski. The two of them had apparently discussed keeping Parrish out of harms' way by keeping him on desk duty. The sheriff says he didn't think the noise complaint would be that dangerous._**

"Oh" Parish and Noah say at once.

 ** _The wounds are still smoking. Melissa speculates that fire may have something to do with his healing processes. Eyes glowing orange, Parrish sits bolt upright. He turns to find Stilinski pointing a gun at him. Melissa gets him to lower the weapon. Parrish's wounds have mostly healed leaving only red scarred streaks across his chest. Parrish remembers that Scott is in danger. He explains about the big glowing monster guy and says the talons were sucking the life out him. Parrish thinks the creature could steal Scott's Alpha status. Melissa says it's different for Scott. Stilinski says "you can't steal a True Alpha's power." Parrish thinks this new creature can. Liam is outside the door and overhears._**

"It had to bayou didn't it" Scott sighed. Liam smiled, "werewolf hearing and just regular teen being nosey" he said.

 ** _Back in the traffic jam, the Yukimura's discuss the legend of the Wild Hunt and how ghosts (hunters, horses with blood-red eyes and wolves and hounds) race across the stormy skies in pursuit of souls._**

"Kira's family will always weird me out" Stiles mumbled. Chris though hummed in thought. "Very specific story" he thought.

 ** _Kira hears Scott's motorcycle and jumps out of the car. The two meet in the rain and Scott asks if Kira "had fun" in New York. She says "not really" and they kiss. Kira and Scott arrive at school in the pouring rain. They take refuge under the bridge that leads to the athletic fields. They kiss some more until the glowing talon creature shows up and attacks._**

"Thank you Talon monster" Allison mumbled to herself.

 ** _Malia and Stiles are waiting to hear from the others. Malia also hasn't heard if she passed summer school and says she doesn't want to take part in the Senior Scribe unless she is actually a senior. As Stiles watches the other students arriving he becomes anxious. Malia smells the change in mood in his pheromones and asks him about it. Stiles says he asked his dad about his friends from high school and the Sheriff said he didn't keep in touch with any of them. Stiles worries that this will happen to him too. It's why he's come up with "the plan, the vision" to keep Scott and the group all together through college. "If I've already found the best people in my life, why am I not just trying to stay with them?"_**

"We'll always be together man" Scott grinned at his friend who grinned back. "Hah Gay!" Peter called out ruining the mood.

 ** _Malia senses someone approaching fast. Liam rushes in and Malia throws him to the ground. Liam warns them that Scott is in trouble. Under the bridge, the creature is getting the better of Scott. It begins to mock him about his lack of power. Kira's belt is actually her sword and she whips it out and tries to take on the talon but he knocks her away._**

"That's cool and all but hope her pants don't fall off in mid battle" Stiles said earning amused snorts from everyone.

 ** _The creature explains that he is a "devoted fan" and urges Scott to show him the man who took down Deucalionand "broke the Argents." They fight again but the creature takes down both Scott and Kira again. The creatures talons begin to glow blue and he explains that he didn't come "just to claim your status." A third werewolf appears. It is the boy Kira saw on the road earlier. He attempts to take down the creature and gets in a couple of good slashing blows but is ultimately thrown aside._**

"You're a werewolf!?" Stiles asked stunned. Theo just shrugged and put his hand up when he saw Scott open his mouth, "I'm sure I'll explain later in these videos so" he said with a smile and Scott sat back down but Stiles still was looking at him suspiciously.

 ** _The creature comes for Scott again and embeds his talons in his gut. Scott's eyes go from glowing red back to normal and he is weakened. He drops to his knees just as Malia, Stiles, and Liam arrive. Just when it seems Scott has lost, his eyes glow red again. He grabs the creature's arm and breaks it, breaking off the talons in the process. He then offers it a choice, stay, and Scott will continue breaking bones, or the creature can run. It chooses the latter._**

"Badass" Stiles grinned and high fived Scott.

 ** _The new werewolf, now back in his human form, explains that he knows Scott and Stiles from the fourth grade. Scott recognizes him as "Theo." He had apparently moved away but then heard Scott was a True Alpha. He says he moved back to town just to be part of Scott's pack. Later in the school hallway, Stiles is suspicious of Theo but Scott says he is more worried about the guy who just tried to kill him. Malia gets the email she's been waiting for. She passed summer school and is now officially a senior. Lydia finds the group and chastises them for being late. The Senior Scribe finds the entire class signing their initials on one of the shelves in the BHHS Library. Malia signs her initials MT for Malia Tate ignoring her true father Peter Hale. Scott signs his initials then adds AA for Allison Argent. Lydia says Allison is with them._**

Allison smiled and leaned against his boyfriend who she was now sitting beside. Scott wrapped an arm around her and pulled her close, kissing the top of her head. Chris looked at the couple then back at the screen, a smile on his face.

 ** _In a dark laboratory, the creature with the talons kneels in obvious pain. He begs for another chance and more power. He says he could do it with a little more power. Three figures in long coats and odd, steampunk, masks approach._**

"They look like plague doctors" Mason mumbled.

 ** _They seem to be slightly out of phase with reality, their bodies seem to blur and there is a strange clicking noise that sounds like a metallic insect. In an electronic voice, one says "Your condition worsens" as he draws what looks like a sword. The creature begs for another chance. The voice says "You were supposed to remove the obstacles. Our time is limited." The creature says he can help with whatever they're here to do but the voice says "there are no second chances." This is echoed by one of the others as the sword is thrust quickly in and out of the creature's chest. He falls back to the floor in agony. His chest splits and eight black birds fly out._**

"This is some serious witchcraft shit" Stiles mumbled.

 ** _Lydia is strapped down to a bed in Eichen House. Aiden is standing over her explaining that no one ever saw the creature again but that was the start of it, the beginning of senior year. Lydia says she knows he's not Aiden that he's not real. Suddenly Aiden is replaced by Valack, the doctor with the third eye. He no longer has a hole in his head._**

"Oh god he is back in power" Talia said and felt a bit sick. She had heard about all the things the man had done.

 ** _The Doctor is trying to get Lydia to remember what happened during senior year. She says she doesn't remember but as he speaks we see a series of flashes:_**

 ** _Scott and Liam are fighting._**

 ** _Melissa slaps Sheriff Stilinski._**

 ** _Kira gets in a car and is driven away as Scott watches and a streetlight explodes._**

 ** _Jordan Parrish stands surrounded by flames, his eyes glow orange._**

 ** _Malia cowers in a cave terrified "when the Desert Wolf finally found her." A shadowy figure approaches._**

 ** _Stiles' Jeep is upside down with fire all around, glass litters the road and Stiles is unconscious and bleeding in the wreckage._**

 ** _When Lydia says she still doesn't remember, Valack takes out a drill-like device he says is for Trepanation "the medical art of drilling into the human skull" and comes at her with it._**

The room had gone deadly silent as they all saw the horrid flashes which could only be flashes of the future in horror. The silence was broken by a small whimper.


	71. 5-2

Lydia whimpered and begun to shake seeing the trepanation tool. Allison who was seated next to Scott was getting up to hurry to her side but was beaten to it. Stiles was beside her in a flash, arms wrapped securely around her shaking form. Lydia buried her face into his chest and sobbed silently. Stiles rubbed her back reassuringly, "it won't happen to you" he murmured, "I wouldn't let that sick doctor come near you" he said. Lydia said nothing but pushed herself closer to him, taking in his warmth that promised safety. The two were like that for a while before Lydia began to calm down. She did not remove herself from Stiles but gave indications that she would be fine. Stiles nodded to the others, still rubbing her back and the episode was resumed.

 ** _Natalie Martin is counseling a student named Tracy at Beacon Hills High School. Tracy Stewart is distracted by visions of a crow pecking against a window and a skylight banging in the rain._**

Mason would have commented on that but then remembered the crows pouring out of that monsters body last episode and remained quiet. It could not have been a coincidence.

 ** _Ms. Martin asks if the girl is getting enough sleep and she admits that she's not. The teacher explains that circadian rhythms are different for young people in that the teenage body produces a natural sleep chemical called melatonin late into the morning. Meaning a student's brain is still sleeping long after classes begin._**

"What's cicadan rhythms?" Liam asked. "Circadian rhythms is basically a 24-hour internal clock that is running in the background of your brain and cycles between sleepiness and alertness at regular intervals" Melissa explained. Liam nodded even though he didn't fully grasp the concept.

 ** _Tracy explains that she gets night terrors which Martin describes as Parasomnia. Tracy says she usually doesn't remember what causes her fear but relays a story of one particularly stormy night when she woke to find a crow pecking against the skylight over her bed. Tracy has a silver leaf-shaped necklace hanging on her nightstand. The crow is gone and as Tracy settles into sleep again, she sees a masked figure outside her window._**

"Who wants to bet that it wasn't a nightmare" Hayden mumbled. "I think it was but more of a recollection in a different way" Liam told her. Hayden who was surprised at Liam talking so nicely to her and more surprised at the fact that he had said something smart just nodded at him.

 ** _She bolts awake and scrambles to turn on the bedside lamp. When she turns back the figure is gone. She makes her way to the window and checks to make sure it is locked. She turns off the lamp and tries to go back to sleep but is quickly woken by a breeze blowing in from the now open skylight. The lamp next to her bed no longer works. In the darkness, she climbs up on a chair and attempts to reach the latch for the skylight. Straining, she manages to get it closed and locks the skylight. At that moment, a black-gloved figure grabs the chair leg and yanks it out from under her and she falls. Back at school, Tracy explains that her father found her on the floor and that the skylight was sealed shut a couple years back for weatherproofing._**

"Okay you're right. That was a nightmare and a recollection at the same time" Mason mumbled to Liam who looked grim.

 ** _Martin takes this to mean that much of what she experienced was just a dream. She explains a theory that one of the biological functions of dreaming is to present the brain with threatening events as a way to rehearse for real-world situations. She diagnoses Tracy with normal anxiety of a form common to seniors in high school. As Tracy stands to leave, she begins to cough. Eventually, she throws up a torrent of viscous black liquid and black feathers. She asks Ms. Martin if this is part of common anxiety._**

"Why of course it is Tracy" Corey tried to joke but was hushed by Mason.

 ** _Scott is at work performing an intramuscular injection in the hind leg of a wirehaired mix. Dr. Deaton is overseeing his progress. Scott finishes the injection but removes the needle in a way that hurts the dog. It snaps at him. Deaton chuckles saying the dog is a little one but his teeth are still sharp. Scott apologizes to the dog and returns it to its owner, a little girl. The little girl, Stephanie, calls Scott "Dr. McCall." He corrects her that he is not a doctor "yet."_**

"No but you're well on your way to become one of the best" Allison mumbled to Scott and cuddled him making the boy smile.

 ** _Deaton is examining the claw from the unnamed creature that attacked Scott at the school. He says it is less like a claw and more like the talon of a harpy eagle. While Scott wonders aloud how a werewolf gets talons, Deaton says the more interesting mystery is how the talons somehow absorbed Scott's power._**

"Oh yes I believe that is more important Mr. McCall" Stiles mumbled out loud from his spot beside Lydia who was now watching the show with the others but was still leaning into Stiles for support. People could tell that she had been crying from the redness in her eyes. Scott snorted and waved him off with a smile which Stiles returned.

 ** _Deaton says the only creature capable of absorbing Scott's true alpha power would be a beta of his own making, someone like Liam. Scott wonders if the same would be true of a beta that he did not father but that he allowed into his pack. He's talking about Theo Raeken. Deaton says normally the answer would be no, but, apparently, the rules of the supernatural are not as rigid as they believed or someone is trying to change the rules._**

Theo's eyebrows came together in worry. He could not afford to let his plans go into ruin.

 ** _Stiles is trying to convince his dad to investigate Theo._**

"Why are you trying to do that?" Scott asked Stiles who looked at him with a serious look. "I don't trust Theo. No offense but the dude popped out of nowhere and he doesn't give me a good feeling" he explained. "It's okay Stiles" Theo said before Scott could say anything, "I get I need to earn your trust" he said with a smile but internally he was worrying. Allison pecked Scott on the cheeks, "trust Stiles. He knows what he is doing" she murmured and Scott nodded with a sigh.

 ** _He says the boy's family left town when Theo was nine or ten and that his older sister got into an accident when he was eight. The Sheriff doesn't see why he should investigate Theo just because he is a werewolf. He points out that Stiles' best friend is a werewolf and he is dating a werecoyote. He says "When the flying monkeys come soaring through this station" he might pay attention to Stiles' concerns. Stiles says he senses something different about his father but can't figure out exactly what it is. Stiles pushes him again to do a full background check on Theo's family, the Raekens. The sheriff refuses saying that just because he's the only one in law enforcement to know about the supernatural doesn't me he has to do something every time Stiles has a minor suspicion. Stiles realizes that his father is not the only lawman who knows about the supernatural. He turns to Deputy Jordan Parrish._**

Noah sighs to himself.

 ** _The background check was mostly fruitless Stiles explains to Malia as they arrive at school. He did find a speeding ticket signed by Theo's dad. Stiles says speeders are trying to get away from something, but Malia points out that he would have several tickets of his own if his father didn't get him out of them. Stiles admits he would have 17 speeding tickets without his father's intervention._**

This time Noah snorted along with Claudia.

 ** _Malia says she understands why Stiles is worried and feels threatened because Theo is really hot with great hair and a perfect body._**

"That is so not the reason" Stiles deadpanned. Lydia untucked herself from Stiles' side and giggled. Stiles looked at her but said nothing, noting the smile that she had on right now. He just smiled back and rubbed her hand which she seemed to enjoy.

 ** _She offers to torture him for Stiles saying she believes she could take him. Stiles declines but says he has a plan with steps._**

 ** _Get the story._**

 ** _Verify the facts._**

 ** _Find the piece that doesn't fit._**

 ** _Catch him in the act._**

 ** _Theo arrives at school, smiles, and waves at Stiles and Malia. Malia still doesn't understand why Stiles is so suspicious. He says he remembers Theo and that this new guy isn't Theo._**

"So much for keeping a cover" Theo mused internally. He was plucked from the time when he had been on the highway and had the whole plan in his mind. But it seems he needed to tweak it a bit to bring the ball back into his court.

 ** _Scott arrives at school is joined by Kira. They embrace and say it's going to be the best first day ever. Mason has become obsessed with the Berserkers after his experience with Lydia Martin and Sheriff Stilinski. He purchased an old German book for $200 which he says is totally worth it. Liam seems annoyed and uncomfortable with his obsession he lies and says he's never seen anything like the berserker illustration in the book._**

"Oh come on dude" Mason groaned. "Uh afraid of those things" Liam waved his hand at him and Mason smiled sheepishly.

 ** _In Mr. Yukimura's class the only seat available is beside Hayden Romero_**

"Oh look it's me" Hayden smiled. Liam just rolled his eyes.

 ** _a girl Liam apparently knows and does not want to sit beside. He hesitates until the teacher forces him to sit down. He realizes then that Hayden has stuck bubble gum to his chair leaving a gooey pink mass on the seat of his pants._**

Liam groaned while Hayden cackled like an evil witch making those around her feel a bit uncomforble.

 ** _Scott arrives in Advanced Placement Biology. Kira and Lydia pantomime their confusion about his presence in such a difficult class until Kira finally asks if he is in the right room. Scott is. He shows he is prepared by opening his heavily-highlighted and annotated AP Biology textbook._**

"If that isn't ready then I don't know what is" Allison laughed then yelped when Scott poked her side.

 ** _The teacher, Mrs. Finch, asks about plasmids which Lydia says are circular, self-replicating DNA molecules often used in cloning proteins. Mrs. Finch asks her what vitamin is absorbed in the stomach via parietal cell production of a glycoprotein. Lydia doesn't know. The teacher says it is B-12. She asks Scott if he knew the answer. He says he didn't. She then asks him about his number one college pick which he says is UC Davis. She says it is the best school on the west coast for biological and physical sciences. Kira seems surprised by Scott's answer. Mrs. Finch says Scott is in the right class if that's what he wants. She asks who else in the room believes they are in the right class and Theo raises his hand near the back of the room._**

Stiles narrowed his eyes slightly, something Lydia didn't miss.

 ** _She says there will be a test to help them determine if they should be in the class and they have two weeks to drop it if they decide they shouldn't be there. Stiles enlists the aid of Scott to question Theo during free period. Mason is still droning on at Liam about his supernatural experience. He says he doesn't believe it all but people around them seem to know things. He singles out Lydia as one of those people who know things. Liam gets frustrated and says Mason should be thinking about other things like the soccer team and how it's warm out and they'll probably be practicing with their shirts off. One of the players catches Mason's eye and smiles. He leaves to watch the soccer team practice._**

Liam snorted then glared at his best friend who punched him on the arms, hard.

 ** _Liam has changed out of his gum-stained jeans and into his gym shorts. Hayden's locker is apparently right next to Liam's. He says he wondered if she was "still pissed off about the sixth grade" but now he's sure she is. Hayden says she is not pissed off she is "vengeful."_**

"Sounds wonderful" Liam rolled his eyes and slumped into his seat. Hayden just glared at Liam, but it didn't have the same intensity as it did when they first ended up in this room.

 ** _Tracy walks to her locker. As she works the combination lock, she hears the crackle of electricity and a growling noise. She sees a looming shadow but once she opens her locker it all goes away and the hall is once more full of students. The light and her relief last for just a couple of seconds before the lights shut off in the hall and Tracy finds herself once again alone. One of the lockers nearby begins oozing black liquid which pools on the floor just before the locker's latch opens by itself and one of the doctors climbs out. It crawls sideways along the lockers, defying gravity as it gets closer to her._**

"Ah so it's your friendly neighborhood spider man" Stiles said earning snorts from everyone.

 ** _She tries to convince herself that there is nothing there but the creature keeps coming. We hear Lydia calling Tracy's name and the doctor phases out and reality phases back in. Lydia puts an arm around the girl and leads her away from the locker which is now punctured by claw marks._**

The wolves in the room narrowed their eyes. Tracy was a werewolf then.

 ** _Theo relates the story of how he got bitten to Scott and Stiles. He claims he was skateboarding in an empty swimming pool when he fell and his skateboard went flying into the air. He realized he never heard the board come back down and when he looked up, a man with red glowing eyes and claws was standing on the lip of the pool holding the board. He explains that this Alpha werewolf bit him on the side and that by the time he figured out what was going on, he'd heard that the alpha that bit him had been killed by two of his betas who were also twins._**

"Convenient" Stiles mumbled and Lydia too now found Theo fishy.

 ** _He urges Scott to listen to his pulse to tell if he's lying. Stiles points out that Theo could just know how to steady his pulse so he could lie without detection. Stiles says Theo would lie because he's not who he claims to be so Theo relates a story about an asthma attack in 4_** ** _th_** ** _grade that sent him to the ER. Before leaving school for the hospital, Theo claims Scott comforted him about how easy the visit would be and how they would make him feel better with oxygen and an intravenous feed of Prednisone. Stiles rolls his eyes at yet another Theo suck-up-to-Scott story but Scott seems to buy it._**

Stiles sighed. Scott trusted too easily.

 ** _Scott says they have to give people the benefit of the doubt sometimes. Stiles is convinced that he is right, that there is something "off" about Theo. Scott says Lydia is the psychic. Stiles points out that Lydia is not a psychic but a Banshee. Lydia and her mother are discussing Tracy who is eavesdropping outside the classroom. Her mother is convinced the girl suffers from a sleep disorder but Lydia believes something more is going on and points to the fact that Tracy coughed up feathers. Her mom says night terrors have reportedly caused people to do a lot stranger things than eating their pillows._**

"Yeah black feathers and black goo are very common in pillows" Corey deadpanned.

 ** _Lydia wants to take Tracy out of school and talk to her but Natalie refuses saying that if the girl needs help they will get her professional help. Lydia gets an idea about just which "professional" she can get to help. Deputy Parrish checks the windows in Tracy's bedroom and finds them to be secure with no sign of forced entry. Lydia examines a number of drawings of blackbirds and other dark objects decorating the walls. Parrish finds the skylight is not sealed shut as Tracy believed and on the roof outside he finds a mound of dead and bloodied blackbirds as well as some claw marks._**

"Definitely not pillows" Mason mumbled making Corey chuckle.

 ** _In drivers' education class, Mr. Yukimura is teaching Malia. She is heavy on the brakes causing the car to jerk. As she is driving, reality begins to phase out, replaced by a rapidly accelerating wooded scene and the sound of someone screaming. Malia pushes down on the gas accelerating toward a bus and a group of students. She catches herself and slams both feet on the breaks. She stops the car without crashing. Mr. Yukimura can't get out of the car fast enough saying the lesson is over for the day and he sees room for improvement in her performance. On the track behind the car, several cones are knocked over and a mannequin crossing guard is lying on the pavement._**

The room snorts in unison at the choice of words while Malia scowled.

 ** _In the library, Stiles claims to have proof that Theo isn't who he claims to be. He's broken into the administrative office and found Theo's transfer form signed by his father. He says the signature doesn't match the signature of Mr. Raeken on the traffic ticket from eight years earlier._**

"Breaking in? Seriously?" Noah said while Stiles just shrugged. Theo meanwhile was cursing the foolish man inwardly.

 ** _He says the "garlands don't match. The undulations of the sinuous stroke are totally off." Elsewhere in the signature he finds a "Perfect example of the Criminal Tremor." Scott, Kira and Malia are unimpressed by Stiles evidence. He tries convincing them saying that if Theo's parents are psychotic killers then they shouldn't trust him. Malia points out that her parents are Peter Hale and the Desert Wolf both known as psychotic killers._**

"Good point" Laura said making Peter scowl.

 ** _Stiles is stymied by this, takes his evidence and walks away saying he doesn't need anyone. In the next scene, he's enlisted Liam to help him._**

"Guess I don't count huh?" Liam chuckled making Stiles scowl.

 ** _Outside Tracy's house, Parrish says he's willing to stake out the area at midnight after his shift to see if something is going on. Lydia offers to keep him company but he says she doesn't have to. He says already owes her for digging through a bunch of old literature and mythology while they were trying to figure out more about his supernatural nature. They spent three weeks going over it but didn't find anything._**

"Why literature?" Hayden asked. "Sometimes writers write stuff that are very close to the supernatural world than we would like to admit. Like the writings of Homer" Talia explained.

 ** _Lydia says she'll bring him coffee later anyway because she only has one class at school the next day. She reveals that she had enough credits to graduate last year. He acquiesces and orders a "Medium Americano, black." Stiles and Liam follow Theo to the woods. Liam says they've been watching him play video games for 3 hours before tracking him outside. Liam remembers that he was supposed to meet Mason at school to work out and couldn't tell him what he was really up to because he's yet to explain that he is a werewolf. Stiles says he and Scott already gave him their permission to tell Mason and that he has already seen Stilinski blow up a berserker with a land mine so… Liam says it's not that easy but Stiles says he should because it is always better when they know._**

"Listen to him" Mason insisted while Liam just grumbled.

 ** _Liam falls in a hole and notices, partially buried in the mud, a silver leaf-shaped necklace like the one seen earlier in Tracy's bedroom._**

"Weird" Derek mumbled.

 ** _They catch up to Theo and find him casting a single lily off a bridge into the water below. Stiles has Liam use his ability to determine emotions from scent, chemosignals, and finds that Theo is grieving . Stiles realizes that this is where Theo's sister, who got lost in the woods, died of exposure. Stiles and Liam beat a hasty retreat but Theo catches up with them. He begins again to lay on the charm. Stiles shows him the handwriting samples from his father and says they were signed by two different people. Theo offers to give a DNA sample but Stiles points out he has nothing from fourth grade with which to compare it. Theo tries charm again saying he came back to Beacon Hills not just for Scott but for Stiles or someone like him. He needs someone good and loyal and willing to go to great lengths to protect his friends. Theo says he is meant to be part of this pack._**

"Now sucking up to you?" Lydia asked Stiles. "I know" he mumbled eyes narrowed.

 ** _Tracy's dad hammers boards over the skylight in her bedroom. He then leaves saying he has to meet a client at the courthouse. Tracy turns out the light and goes to sleep, the leaf necklace is no longer on her nightstand. Scott is waiting for Liam and Stiles when they get back to Stiles' Jeep. Scott realizes immediately that Theo was in the woods to pay respects to his dead sister. Stiles tries to start the jeep but the alternator or electrical system will not cooperate. Stiles asks Liam to get in the drivers' seat while he checks under the hood. Scott and Stiles argue with Stiles becoming more and more frustrated by the engine trouble and the conversation._**

Both boys grew a bit uncomfortable.

 ** _Scott points out that Stiles hasn't trusted many of their friends at one time or another. He mentions Derek, Kira and Liam. Stiles points out that he was right about Peter. Stile says Scott probably still thinks there is something in Peter that can be "saved." Scott says maybe that's true._**

Everybody snorted much to Scott's ire. Even Peter found it funny.

 ** _The argument comes to a head when a very calm Scotts asks a very angry Stiles why he can't trust more and Stiles replies it's because Scott trusts too much. Stiles slams his fist into the front of the Jeep injuring his hand._**

"Ouch" most of them winced at that. Lydia sighed and gave the hand she was holding a soft squeeze. Coincidentally it happened to be the same hand.

 ** _Scott takes his friend's hand and draws out the pain and injury. The Jeep suddenly starts._**

"Coincidence?" Scott looks to Stiles who shook his head slightly.

 ** _Parrish, on stake-out in front of Tracy's house, gets a text from Lydia saying she will be there at midnight. Unseen by the officer, Tracy stands outside his vehicle in the street._**

"I'm never sending you on stake out duty" Noah says making Parish groan.

 ** _Liam is out of breath as he finally reaches the school gym. Mason is already finished working out and is angry Liam didn't call. Liam girds himself to tell his friend the truth about his supernatural nature but a black wolf shows up in the parking lot. It chases the boys through the school until Liam turns, bares fangs and growls at it giving Mason a good look at his werewolf face and sending the wolf running away. Mason seems pleased to find out about Liam's status._**

"Told you I wouldn't think differently" Mason smirked making Liam roll his eyes but he had a relieved smile in his face.

 ** _The black wolf runs through the woods, stops on the bridge and transforms into Theo who runs naked through the woods._**

"You can do that!?" Scott looked to Theo who was trying to hold his calm. "Yeah…can't you?" he asked lamely. Scott narrowed his eyes dangerously and looked away, Stiles was right.

 ** _Scott and Kira make out in his bedroom._**

Allison groans slightly before pushing herself into Scott's side. "When we leave here, you are making up for all these make out sessions I'm seeing" she pouted making Scott chuckle but worry about what he would need to do.

 ** _They take a break and discuss how Scott wants to go to UC Davis and become a veterinarian. He says he didn't tell her because he is worried he is not smart enough to make that happen. Kira says he'll make it and then takes her top off. She tries to turn off the bedside lamp but the bulb explodes. She giggles._**

Allison rolled her eyes but a comforting arm around her made her not say anything.

 ** _Parrish drinks his coffee and tells Lydia that no one has entered or left Tracy's house. Lydia apologizes for wasting his time and he smiles at her and says it wasn't a total waste. Tracy wakes to find herself on the floor in The Dread Doctors' lab._**

"No stake outs" Noah deadpanned making Parish sigh in defeat.

 ** _She tries to tell herself it's all a dream as the Surgeon, the Pathologist, and the Geneticist surround her. They blur like they are phasing in and out of reality. She speaks to herself, saying she is still sleeping but the Surgeon says she is "awakening" just before the other two grab her arms with clamps. She is forced to the floor and the Surgeon plunges a long-needled syringe device into her neck and injects her with a silvery liquid. Tracy then remembers her night terrors with more clarity. Apparently, she, not a blackbird, was knocking on the skylight. She also clawed her own locker at school. The Doctors let her go and she transforms into a werewolf and roars._**

"How did they" Scott asked but none of the wolves could answer, too stunned and horrified.

 ** _Stiles adds Theo Raeken to the transparent Lucite murder board in his bedroom. His father says that usually, they wait until someone does something wrong before finding them guilty. Stiles says Theo is guilty of something. The sheriff says accusations require proof and proof always trumps instinct. Stiles says he's figured out what's different about his father. He's stopped wearing his wedding ring._**

"It's alright" Claudia said with a sad smile when Noah was about to apologize, "I'm dead. You deserve to be happy" she whispered. Noah put an arm around her and held her close, the couple saying nothing anymore. Stiles looked at his parents in sadness, his dad really was a different man when his mom was around. He felt a slight tug and saw Lydia smiling at him. He smiled back and leaned his head on hers when she rested it on his shoulder.

 ** _Impressed by his instincts and skills of observation, he revisits Stiles feelings about Theo. He says if Stiles is sure he's guilty then all he must do is wait. Guilty people will eventually make a mistake. With Stiles copies of the two different signatures in front of them, Theo confronts his parents. They seem terrified of him. He says they were supposed to practice to the point that the signature would be indistinguishable from the original. His father swears he practiced hundreds of times. His mother says she doubts that is true. Theo says there is one way a false signature can be explained – it's not easy to write when one is wearing a cast. He produces a hammer, his father places his hand on the table and Theo brings the tool down on top of it._**

The room grew silence again as Stiles slowly turned his head towards Theo. "Who are you Theo Raeken" he asked coldly.


	72. 5-3

Theo looked right at Stiles but said nothing for a while. "You'll find out soon enough Stiles" he smiled bur this time, his smile held a bit of a dangerous edge which unnerved most of the people. They looked away from him and put their gazes back on the screen deciding to deal with the boy later.

 ** _Images of Sheriff Stilinski getting ready for a date are juxtaposed with the images of Donovan being cuffed and readied for transport by deputies._**

Claudia shifted slightly them relaxed when Noah wrapped an arm around her.

 ** _Tracy Stewart's father is Donovan's attorney and is waiting when Deputy Parrish and another, unnamed deputy, bring him out. The sheriff is worried about his hair, saying he should have gotten it cut. Stiles says someone his father's age should be happy they still have hair to cut._**

"Oh haha" Noah rolled his eyes at his grinning son.

 ** _Scott says the sheriff looks great prompting Stilinski to call him the "son I should have had."_**

"Hey!" Stiles complained.

 ** _Getting cold feet, the sheriff begins to loosen his tie saying his plan to go on a date is a terrible idea. Stiles stops him and says the town of Beacon Hills won't implode while he's out with one woman or man. Stilinski clarifies that he is going out with a "very beautiful" woman but refuses to tell the boys which woman it is._**

"You had to jinx it didn't you" Noah sighed while Stiles smiled sheepishly.

 ** _Attorney Stewart explains that the DA is pushing for 3 to 5 years on Donovan's "breaking and entering" charge. Stewart believes he can cut a deal so that the young man only serves 2. Donovan becomes agitated and starts screaming "Stilinski." The Sheriff, Scott and Stiles exit his office and Donovan threatens to kill him. The Sheriff says he's not shocked because Donovan's behavior was well documented in his "Anger Expression Inventory." Donovan's threats become more detailed as he explains how he plans to take a knife and stab the sheriff. Stiles mocks Donovan, saying his performance was great but asking him to do it again like Christopher Walken. He then says Donovan will have plenty of time to work on his performance while stuck in a tiny little cell forever._**

"Don't antagonize the criminal" Claudia sighed.

 ** _Donovan rushes at Stiles but the deputies hold him back and the sheriff orders them to get him out of the station. Stiles explains to Scott that an "Anger Expression Inventory" is a test given to people applying to work for the Sheriff's Department indicating that Donovan wanted to be a cop. In the transport van, Mr. Stewart chastises Donovan for threatening the Sheriff in front of the entire department and his son. He says the young man will now be lucky if they can get him out of jail within three to five decades. The driver of the van begins to stiffen up. He is having trouble focusing and the prisoner transport van begins to accelerate through the Beacon Hills Warehouse district. The driver believes he is having a heart attack. Stewart attempts to take the wheel and reach his foot over to apply the brake. The van careens into the concrete walls of the tunnel-like viaduct, throwing up sparks. Claws, dripping a clear viscous fluid, puncture the top of the van. Once Stewart manages to stop the van under the bridge they hear something moving around on the roof. Stewart is surprised to see his daughter standing next to the driver's side window._**

"You thinking what I'm thinking?" Stiles asked Scott who nodded. "Kanima" they said in unison.

 ** _Tracy breaks the window and kills the driver. Blood sprays into her father's face. The officer in the back of the van with Donovan begins firing his shotgun at her. Donovan escapes out the back of the vehicle and runs away. The officer tries to follow but is pulled back inside the van. Stewart, covered in blood, stumbles out of the van. His daughter is standing nearby and says she'll never let anything happen to him "ever again." Her eyes glow yellow and snarls._**

"She isn't wrong in a sense" Theo mused, ignored by the rest.

 ** _In a nearby alley, Donovan hears the growls and screaming as Tracy kills her father. He trips and falls. Looking up he sees The Surgeon. He stands and tries to flee but The Pathologist grabs him and holds him firm. The Surgeon then pushes a complicated drill device to the side of Donovan's head and turns it on. The drill bit enters his skull and a silvery liquid covers his eye._**

"Great, the criminal with anger issues and a grudge against me has superpowers now" Stiles rolled his eyes. Lydia looked at Stiles and poked his cheek. Stiles blinks and looks at her with a raised eyebrow. "Superpowers?" she raised an eyebrow herself. Stiles shrugged but said nothing.

 ** _Stiles' Jeep won't start. He turns the key repeatedly attempting to get it to turn over. Scott looks concerned. Stiles says it is anxiety. He says he knows the werewolves use his chemo signals to monitor his emotional state. The jeep still won't start and he pounds the steering wheel. Stiles confides to Scott that he received a message from Braeden concerning the search for The Desert Wolf._**

Malia perked up at the mention of her birth mother.

 ** _The woman everyone believes is Malia's mother has violently killed someone and Braeden sent a picture with the email. He shows it to Scott on his phone. Stiles feels bad because he's been pushing Malia to find her. Scott says maybe he should stop but Stiles says it's not up to him. Stiles tries one more time to crank the jeep and the engine revs to life._**

"Damn right it isn't" Malia mumbled.

 ** _Malia adjusts the mirrors on her new car. Lydia is in the passenger seat. Kira is in the middle of the back seat and is walking Malia through the steps of preparing to drive. She says to place her hands on the wheel at "10 and 2" but Lydia corrects her saying the new preferred position is "9 and 3" because an airbag deployment could break the driver's thumbs the other way. Malia points out that her thumbs would heal. Lydia says to "save your strength" and places her hands at 9 and 3. Malia grips the wheel tightly. She flashes back momentarily to the accident that killed her mother and little sister but then clears her mind and begins to drive. Kira is offering words of encouragement until Malia asks her to please shut up._**

Scott laughed weakly at that then yelped from being elbowed by the girl cuddled into him.

 ** _Malia is swerving slowly back and forth across the deserted road until she goes off the road and heads directly for a tree. The car's Pre-Collision Systems Alert begins to beep and Lydia yells for her to turn the wheel. Malia does, barely missing the tree, and keeps turning it putting the car into a lazy doughnut pattern in the middle of the road. Lydia says Malia should push a little harder on the gas. She does and the car careens down the street. Malia asks where they're going and Lydia suggests the school so they can practice parking in the lot there. Looking around, Kira realizes they are heading away from the school and toward downtown._**

"Your senses are tingling huh?" Stiles asked with a smirk. Lydia rolled her eyes, "I'm a Banshee not Spiderman".

 ** _She asks if they should do a u-turn. Lydia senses something and says no they should keep going. They continue on and pull up to the bloody prisoner transport van. Scott and Stiles arrive on scene. The Sheriff wants to know if Donovan might be a werewolf but Scott says he didn't sense it from him. Stiles reminds them that some werewolves can mask their scent. The Sheriff believes Donovan killed his lawyer and mortally wounded two officers. He sends Scott to find him, giving him a walkie talkie and tells him to keep it on channel 2 to stay in touch. Scott gets Donovan's scent, his eyes turn red and he's off running. Stiles speculates that it wasn't Donovan._**

"It's been established by now that Stiles' instincts are the best here. Listen to him" Claudia looked at Noah who nodded.

 ** _Theo is watching the crime scene from higher up on the bridge support._**

"Creep" Malia muttered/

 ** _Scott tracks Donovan into one of the nearby warehouses and easily subdues him. He calls back to the Sheriff via the radio and explains that Donovan is freaked out and keeps repeating a name. Stiles whispers "Theo" but Scott comes back and say it's "Tracy." Lydia realizes it's Tracy Stewart. The next day, Lydia is explaining to Malia, Stiles, Liam, Scott and Mason about Tracy's night terrors. Stiles says Tracy is now the night terror and nobody can find her. Scott points out that they're all tired and miserable, except for Mason who seems to think the whole thing is really cool._**

"Such innocence" Liam said patting Mason on the head with his hand which got slapped away by his scowling best friend.

 ** _He indicates Kira and says "You're a Kitsune. I don't even know what that is." Kira says she's still learning about it herself. Stiles chastises Liam saying they told him he should tell Mason not invite him into the inner circle. Mason is even more excited by this notion but is quickly shot down when Stiles and Liam say he is not part of the inner circle._**

"Inner Circle? What are we? Death eaters?" Scott asked incredulously. Stiles just laughed and waved his worry off.

 ** _Scott believes they should be able to find Tracy since she is a lone wolf. Malia points out that she is a lone serial killing wolf to which Stiles says she only killed one person._**

"Lone serial killing wolf" Peter shook his head in amusement.

 ** _Malia suggests they kill her once they catch her. Scott says they should concentrate on catching her first. Sitting in jail, Donovan says he wants his lawyer. The Sheriff points out that his lawyer is dead and Donovan says he wants a new one. Stilinski tries to get the boy to tell them what he saw no matter how unbelievable it might sound. Donovan mocks his tone saying it makes him seem like he really wants to help. He is then struck with a pain in his head that takes his breath away. When he recovers, he again requests a new lawyer. Jordan Parrish reports that they've traced Tracy's whereabouts after the van crash. She was in the hospital killing her physiatrist._**

"Of course. That's such a normal thing" Stiles quipped then yelped when Lydia slapped him on the head.

 ** _Stilinski says he should let Scott know but tell him not to get into yet. Parrish suggest they put him on the payroll._**

"That's a brilliant idea" Scott laughed.

 ** _Stiles show's Malia the pictures of the Desert Wolf's victims. She seems unfazed. Stiles reports that Braden said they were really bad guys. Malia says they deserved it and that they now know that her mother is good at her job._**

"What? I'm not wrong here am I?" Malia asked the pairs of eyes staring at her. No one answered but they did chuckle.

 ** _Mrs. Finch returns Scott's test on DNA & RNA structure in AP Biology. He scored an 86. The teacher seems proud and asks Scott to lead the review on the previous night's reading assignment. Liam shows up outside the door and motions for Scott to come out in the hall. After some hesitation and some confusion on the part of his teacher, Scott motions to his ear, telling Liam to just say what he wants and Scott's werewolf hearing will pick it up. Liam explains that Tracy is currently at the school in Mr. Yukimura's history class. In the classroom, Tracy grips the sides of her desk tightly and her eyes glow yellow. Tracy doesn't actually see the classroom. In her eyes, the room is empty and darkened. She grips the desk so tightly it breaks. Hayden Romero is sitting next to her and asks if she is alright. She notices that Tracy is barefoot._**

"Murder your dad, murder your psychiatrist then go to school. At least she cares about her education" Peter snorted.

 ** _The fire alarm sounds and Mr. Yukimura manages the calm exodus of the students saying it is probably a drill. Hayden stands and tells Tracy they need to leave. Scott and Liam enter but Tracy sees them as the Dread Doctors and grabs Hayden's arm. They try to talk to her but she can't seem to see or hear them. Hayden's arm begins to bleed. Tracy says "They're coming." She lets go of Hayden's arm and says "They're coming for all of us." She then collapses to the floor. A silvery liquid oozes from her mouth and pools on the floor._**

Hayden winced slightly then noticed Liam looking at her arm. "Uh it hasn't happened yet: Hayden said lamely. "I know that" Liam said quickly.

 ** _Mr. Yukimura helps Scott carry Tracy out of the school. They are joined by Malia and Stiles. Hayden asks where they're taking her and Liam says he guesses to the hospital. He then offers to walk Hayden to the nurses' office but she refuses. She goes to the bathroom and washes the blood from her arm. She seems surprised to find no source for the blood. Her skin is unbroken with no cuts and no injury._**

Liam blinks and looks at her, seeing her just as confused.

 ** _Kira and Lydia meet up with Liam. Scott is apparently taking Tracy to the Animal Clinic to see if Deacon can figure out what's wrong. Kira wonders if Tracy has any other surviving family members and Lydia realizes that if Tracy is a werewolf, then she might have an Alpha somewhere. Kira suggests they check with Satomi. Brett Talbot and some friends are playing lacrosse. Mason and Liam stop by to ask about Tracy. Brett doesn't know her and says it's unlikely Satomi turned her because she's been laying low since the assassins killed of many of her pack. Mason learns about how Alpha's turn people with a bite and Brett explains that he and his sister were born werewolves and Satomi took them in when his family died in a fire. Liam notices the necklace Tracy is wearing in the picture, the silver leaf, and remembers seeing it in the hole he fell into in the woods. Deaton examines Tracy. He says her pupils are normal and her heart rate is 250. He finds evidence of an allogeneic skin graft. There is a patch of red, irritated skin on her right shoulder. He says the silver substance that dripped from her mouth is something he's not seen before. He says it almost looks like mercury._**

"Those doctors inject people with mercury to give them powers?" Stiles asked with a raised eyebrow.

 ** _Malia suggests Deaton give her a shot to kill her. Deaton says his code of ethics frowns on such measures and Scott says they're not going to kill Tracy. Stiles thinks maybe Malia has a point that Tracy might try to kill them. Deaton casts a circle of Mountain Ash to keep Tracy secured in the clinic. Malia tests the barrier and her hand can't pass through. She declares the effect to be "weird."_**

"Understatement" Laura said.

 ** _Kira and Lydia go to Tracy's house to look for clues. Lydia says she's "following a feeling" which Kira points out usually leads to dead bodies. Kira finds a dream catcher in a box with a card from her father explaining that it "only works if you believe it." Lydia explains "homicidal somnambulism" which has caused people to kill their entire families while asleep. Deaton tries to cut Tracy's skin with a scalpel but the blade breaks and her skin remained unharmed. Deaton notices something moving around under the skin. He turns her over and her spine seems to be wriggling back and forth._**

"That's disgusting" Lydia made a face. Scott looked to Stiles who seemed to have made the same deduction as him.

 ** _Scott gets a text from his mom explaining that the driver of the prison transport van didn't have a heart attack or a stroke. He was temporarily paralyzed. Stiles realizes what type of creature Tracy has become just as the skin of her back breaks open and a boney tail flips out and begins to flop around striking each of them. Once everyone is paralyzed by her venom, Tracy runs out the door, right through the mountain ash barrier which has no effect on her. Once she is gone Scott and Stiles point out that Tracy isn't a werewolf, she is a Kanima._**

"But how did she break through that!?" Laura asked but no one could answer her.

 ** _Deaton says he doesn't know how Tracy got through the Mountain Ash barrier because "it's a barrier no supernatural creature should be able to cross." Stiles points out that Scott did it. He says he only did it once and it "almost killed" him. Malia begins to panic. Scott tells her they'll be fine. Deaton urges each of them to concentrate. He tells Malia and Scott to focus on healing to free themselves of the Kanima venom. He has them focus on a single part of their body and try to move. Malia is the first to manage it and seems to recover very quickly once she begins to move. She takes off after Tracy. Brett, Mason and Liam head out into the woods to find the hole and Tracy's silver leaf necklace. Mason falls in a hole but there is no necklace. Mason examines the hole and Brett determines that Tracy was buried there. Liam decides that this isn't the hole he fell into because it was closer to the bridge. Brett wonders, if Tracy came out of another hole, who came out of this one?_**

"This is really turning out to be a horror movie" Stiles groaned.

 ** _Kira points out that if Tracy has been killing people who tried to help then she might not be awake. Lydia believes, because she tried to help Tracy, her mother is the next intended victim. Natalie Martin is Sheriff Stilinski's mystery date._**

"That's who you chose!?" Stiles spluttered. Noah shrugged and gave him a 'how would I know?' look while Lydia giggled.

 ** _He apparently had to cancel and reschedule their date the night before due to the prisoner transport crash. The Sheriff notices Deputy Clark lying with her head down on her desk. He asks what's wrong and she says she can't move. Natalie looks around the office and sees another deputy slumped over the counter. A clear, viscous liquid drips from the ceiling onto a desk lamp. Lydia and Kira burst in and yell that Tracy is coming for Natalie. They hear a rattling growl and look up. Tracy is stuck to the ceiling upside down. She is only partially transformed with the tell-tale spots running up one side of her face and one arm. Her Kanima tail whips back and forth. She leaps down and attacks managing to paralyze the sheriff and knock his gun away. Kira take out her sword and manages to avoid Tracy's tail. Lydia yells for her mother to run drawing Tracy's attention. The Kanima spins and stabs Lydia deep in the side with her tail._**

Lydia yelped slightly as if she felt a ghost pain.

 ** _Kira leaps up on a desk. Her body is suddenly outlined in a fiery aura of a fox. Tracy moves into her spin attack again. Kira leaps, lands and cuts off her tail. Tracy flees as Kira's aura fades leaving her exhausted. Theo arrives at the vet clinic. Scott wants to know how he found them and Theo simply says "you work here." He says he heard about Tracy and was looking for Scott to help. Theo says it doesn't have to mean he's part of the pack, "like you've accepted me or anything like that," he just wants to help._**

"Sure you do you stalker" Stiles grumbled.

 ** _When Malia gets to the Sheriff's Station she finds Kira applying pressure to Lydia's wound which is bleeding profusely._**

"You'll be okay" Stiles says watching a worried Lydia. She met his eyes and just nodded, chewing her bottom lip.

 ** _They tell Malia that Tracy thinks she is still asleep and that she has Natalie in the basement. Lydia says to go after her and wake her up._**

"Please be there in time" Lydia whimpered slightly. She relaxed slightly when Stiles put his hand on hers and gave it a gentle squeeze.

 ** _In the basement the werecoyote and Kanima fight. Malia manages to avoid Tracy's venomous claws and pins her to the floor with a knee to her throat. Once she is incapacitated, Tracy wakes up and Malia lets go. Suddenly, The Surgeon appears and injects something in Tracy's neck. Silvery fluid begins to pour from her mouth. The Pathologist grabs Malia and pins her to the wall. The Surgeon says of Tracy, "Her condition is terminal." The Doctors walk away and phase out as Malia watches._**

"Condition terminal?" Stiles asked with pure disgust, "they were the ones who terminated her!" he growled. Theo watched the screen impassively, knowing full well what that meant.


	73. 5-4

_**Parrish**_ _ **lies on his couch flipping a playing card. It features the queen of diamonds and the queen looks like Lydia.**_

"I wonder" Lydia thought to herself.

 _ **On the counter in his living room, there are coils of wire and what appears to be a jar full of electrical switches. He remembers when he and**_ _ **Lydia**_ _ **were exploring his supernatural nature. He asks if Lydia is going to do a magic trick. She says he is but he says he only knows one and it is done with a playing card. Lydia plans to burn his hand with disposable butane lighter. She reminds him that he walked away from being set on fire in a car but he says he had to pay for the uniform.**_

"Sorry they don't cover fire damage where you walk away healthy but soot covered for damage control" Stiles smiled. The others shook their head, sometimes the boy made no sense.

 _ **Parrish remembers the lighter trick from the movie, Lawrence of Arabia. Lydia says the trick in that film was "not minding." The first time the fire hurts and he pulls away. Lydia tells him not think about the fire or pain and tries it again. The flame is on so long the lighter heats up to the point that it burns Lydia's thumb. Parrish's skin is blackened but he rubs away the soot and his hand is unharmed.**_

"Very interesting" Talia mumbled.

 _ **Lydia asks what Parrish was thinking about while he was looking at her. He relates a recurring dream he's been having for 6 months in which he is walking in the woods carrying a badly burned body toward a giant stump. Lydia recognizes that it's the**_ _ **Nemeton**_ _ **and explains that the druid power center is probably what drew Parrish to town in the first place. She calls it a "Beacon for supernatural creatures" and says "It might even make them more powerful." Lydia presses for more details of the dream but Parrish says he doesn't remember anything after laying the body down on the rings of the tree. Back on his sofa, he does the one trick he knows. He flips the queen of diamonds and a black burned smudge appears on her face. He flips the card again and the smudge disappears. He slides the card to the side revealing two cards, one with the smudge and one without. He remembers the rest of the dream. He and the Nemeton are on fire and there are burning bodies piled up all around the stump.**_

"Maybe tell her that next time?" Allison muttered, freaked out from all the burnt bodies.

 _ **Donovan**_ _ **is still in his cell at the Beacon Hills Sheriff Station. He can hear the growls from the fight in the basement and screams for someone to let him out. The**_ _ **Dread Doctors**_ _ **enter. One of them waves a hand in front of the electronic key card reader and the cell door unlocks and rolls back. Donovan backs away into the cell.**_ _ **Scott**_ _ **,**_ _ **Stiles**_ _ **,**_ _ **Theo**_ _ **and**_ _ **Dr. Deaton**_ _ **arrive at the Sheriff's Office. Scott rushes to help Sheriff Stilinski. Stiles spots Lydia with Kira applying pressure to her wound. He stands in the doorway and hesitates. Theo whips off his belt, shoves Stiles out of the way and applies a tourniquet to Lydia's wound.**_

"Thanks" Stiles grumbled to Theo who shrugged. Lydia looked at the boy beside her for a moment before looking back at the screen.

 _ **Deaton finds**_ _ **Tracy's**_ _ **tail, shows it to Scott and covers it with his coat.**_ _ **Natalie Martin**_ _ **comes up from the basement, sees Lydia and freaks out. Scott follows the blood trail out of the main office and calls for Stiles to come with him. Theo says Lydia is alright. Lydia says Stiles should go help Tracy. He obviously doesn't want to leave her but, at her insistence and his father's urging, he goes to help Scott anyway. Deaton follows them down. They find Malia standing over Tracy's lifeless body. Her first instinct is to deny responsibility for the other girl's death. She explains that "There were these people. They had masks." She explains that they were strong and had a weapon and repeats that she is not responsible.**_

"Scott believes you" Stiles said but even he thought the opposite since it looked like she did it.

 _ **Deaton points out that Tracy is not reverting to human form meaning her nature would be obvious to anyone examining the body.**_ _ **Sheriff Stilinski**_ _ **refuses to allow them to take her. He says they can't tamper with the crime scene.**_

"At times like these….better to say she escaped" Claudia muttered. Noah wanted to argue but even he knew that it might be the correct thing to do.

 _ **Deaton points out that the alternative is to call a press conference and explain about the supernatural creatures living in the town. The sheriff is obviously uncomfortable but acquiesces. In the lair of the Dread Doctors, Donovan is strapped down to an examine table. They take turns examining his head and his mouth.**_ _ **The Surgeon**_ _ **says "His condition looks promising."**_ _ **The Geneticist**_ _ **begins pulling out Donovan's teeth. His gums well up with blood.**_

"Oh gross" Hayden pulled a face.

 _ **It smears across his face in a grotesque parody of clown makeup. Suddenly new, sharp, needle-like teeth begin to grow double rows.**_

"My biggest enemy is now a cannibalistic douche. Ain't that just swell" Stiles grumbled in his seat.

 _ **Lydia is wheeled down the corridor of**_ _ **Beacon Hills Memorial Hospital**_ _ **. Her mother is being "forced cheerful" telling her that she's going to alright. Lydia's one thought it keeping her mother from talking about the girl with the tail that attacked them. She says her mom can't say anything about what she saw. Natalie says all she saw was some lunatic girl trying to kill everyone.**_

"Denial is good sometimes" Mason mumbled.

 _ **Liam enters the hospital with Scott and downloads all the information about the holes in the ground where they suspect Tracy and others were once buried.**_ _ **Melissa McCall**_ _ **comes out into the hall where Lydia's friends are waiting for news of her condition. She says Theo probably saved Lydia's life with the tourniquet which earns him a nod of almost-appreciation from Stiles. Melissa says Lydia is heading into surgery and that it will likely be a while before they are done. She also asks if there are any other "supernatural details" that she needs to know about before they operate. Kira points out that Lydia was cut with Tracy's tail. Malia again points out that Tracy isn't the only concern, reminding Scott and Stiles about the guys in the masks. It's almost like she doesn't believe that they really believe her about that part of the story.**_

"They won't unless they have solid proof" Peter mumbled.

 _ **In the operating room, Melissa asks Lydia to start counting backward as the anesthesia begins to take effect. As she is beginning to lose consciousness, Lydia sees the regular doctors and nurses phase into the Dread Doctors and back again. She is almost out of it and stops counting. The Surgeon tells her to "keep counting" as The Dread Doctors crowd around her.**_

"Uh that can't be good" Laura muttered. Lydia shivered slightly before she settled down when Stiles gave her hand a squeeze.

 _ **In Stiles room, he writes "Masked" and "Tracy Stewart" on his Plexiglas murder board. Malia catches sight of "Who is the**_ _ **Desert Wolf**_ _ **?" written above and off to one side. Unprompted, she rises and begins to erase that part of the board. Scott and**_ _ **Kira Yukimura**_ _ **return to his house. Her hands are still red from where she applied pressure to Lydia's wounds. They embrace and begin to kiss but are interrupted by Deaton.**_

"Thank you boss" Scott thought, he would not want to see Allison get upset from seeing him make out with Kira too much. He knew that even if she didn't show it, it did bother her.

 _ **The vet brought along visual aids. He brings out a jar with the claw from the glowing power-absorbing creature and describes "a werewolf with the talons of an eagle." He says it might be a**_ _ **Shapeshifters**_ _ **known in "eastern mythology" as a**_ _ **Garuda**_ _ **. Another jar holds Tracy's claws which he says are unmistakably werewolf but she also bears the scales and venom of a Kanima.**_

"So a hybrid?" Stiles asks.

 _ **He says the idea is terrifying but even more concerning is how Tracy got across the**_ _ **Mountain Ash**_ _ **. He reiterates the fact that no supernatural creature can cross an ash barrier. This leads to the conclusion that Tracy was somehow a non-supernatural werewolf-kanima hybrid. Deaton says if she wasn't born or bitten then she had to have been made.**_

"That sounds just as terrifying as it is" Laura shivered.

 _ **He says someone is trying to make supernatural creatures with non-supernatural means blurring the lines between science and the supernatural. Scott brings up the holes in the woods and Deaton speculates that burying might be part of the "incubation" process. Deaton says Scott and Kira should do what they've always done and protect their friends. Scott wants to know who will protect someone like Tracy but Deaton doesn't have an answer.**_

"Not everyone can be protected Scott. You can try but that doesn't work out" Rafael said to his son who was thinking on those words.

 _ **Deaton leaves town in search of answers. He says he'll be gone "a few days."**_

"Just when they needed him the most" Melissa sighed.

 _ **Kira wants to know just how scared they should be prompting Deaton to say "I've lived in the world of the supernatural for a long time but I'm still a doctor, still a man of science. When something like this happens, it rattles the foundation of everything you believe. Something like this shakes you to the core" and "The rules have changed." In her hospital room, Lydia hears martial arts fighting on television. She rolls over to find Parrish sitting on her bed. She indicates the fighting on TV and asks if he knows how to do it. He says he was taught some jiu-jitsu as part of CQC (Close Quarters Combat) training in the army. Lydia asks Parrish to teach her to fight and he agrees.**_

"Smart idea" Stiles mumbled. Lydia nodded and watched the screen.

 _ **Mrs. Finch**_ _ **has drawn colorful representations of DNA Fragments on the chalk board in AP Biology to illustrate the routh for DNA into cells. She turns to the class and asks "If 99.9% of our DNA Sequence is the same as other humans, what could account for the missing .1% difference?" She calls on Theo who answers correctly "nucleotides." Scott is not paying attention. He's written out his own formula, starting with the blue glowing creature, he then writes "Talons" "Tracy" "Kanima" and "Wolf."**_

"Pay attention in class Scott" Melissa sighed.

 _ **Kira asks if there can be more than one species in the same DNA. Mrs. Finch says no, but says there can be multiple sets of DNA in the same individual which they call a Chimera.**_

"And now she teaches you about what your enemies can be. Pay attention indeed Scott" Allison said to her boyfriend who nodded with a chuckled.

 _ **Finch asks the class if anyone knows where the term comes from and Sydney pipes up that it's from Greek mythology. It was a lion with a goat coming out of its back and a snake for a tail. Finch is not impressed because she sees that Sydney has her phone open to the Wikipedia page for the answer. Finch then moves on to the discussion of mutation which was the night's assigned reading. Scott didn't get to that and admits as much. Finch is disappointed and brings out the forms to drop the class for the students who've realized they can't handle the difficulty level. After a few seconds thought, Scott takes the form.**_

Melissa sighed again.

 _ **Deputy Clark**_ _ **is showing the Sheriff footage from the jail cell from the night of Tracy's attack. The video goes grainy and cuts out for a second and when it resumes, Donovan is no longer inside the cell. The sheriff points out that it is her day off but Clark says she heard Donovan's threats against his life and won't rest until he's caught. The sheriff believes Donovan is on the run somewhere.**_

"Good deputy you got there" Rafael said. Noah nodded with a smile.

 _ **He's not. Donovan is still strapped to the table in the Dread Doctor's lair. Theo enters and explains that Donovan is lucky "they are allowing me to talk to you" he says "they don't usually do that."**_

"YOU'RE IN LEAGUES WITH THEM!?" Scott stood up with a shout, freaking everyone around him. "And you figured it out like right now?" Theo asked with a smirk. Scott was about to march up to him and give him a piece of his mind, but got pulled back into his seat by Allison who buried herself into his side so he couldn't move. Scott sighed and played with her hair since he couldn't do anything without pushing Allison off him, something he didn't want to do.

 _ **He doesn't have much time. He says "these guys, they believe in numbers and results." He says the Doctors will weigh the pros and cons and decide pretty quickly if Donovan will live or die. Theo holds a folder and says it is Donovan's "psych evaluation" from when he applied to be a deputy sheriff. He says it includes a**_ _ **multiphasic personality inventory"**_ _ **which is a test that assesses abnormal behavior. He says it is supposed to indicate if a subject is lying or being defensive or is a "total psycho." Theo says Donovan scored high on the "Psychopathic Deviate scale." He also indicates that Donovan's "Anger Expression Inventory" resulted in a finding that he is "not suitable for law enforcement." Theo then expresses sympathy and talks about how unfair it is that Donovan can't be a cop like his dad but says the young man now has something better. He says Donovan has power, more specifically he has strength, speed and heightened senses." Theo suggests that instead of going after Sheriff Stilinski directly that Donovan should inflict real and long-lasting, soul-crushing pain by going after those Stilinski loves the most.**_

"Oh you bastard" Noah growled and got up before he too got pulled down into his seat and was told to sit there with a stern look which wavered slightly, which translated to, "I know you're angry and so am I but I'm scared and need a bit of comfort" from his wife. He sighed and put an arm around her and pulled her close.

Stiles too wanted to express a few colorful thoughts but decided not to since it hadn't happened yet. Not that he was being hugged by a strawberry blonde, nothing to do with his decision at all.

 _ **Stiles arrives at the library. He says they couldn't get in to see Lydia because she is still in the ICU and isn't allowed any visitors besides family. They've brought the newly enlarged and bound**_ _ **Bestiary**_ _ **. As Kira turns the pages there is a new image of a**_ _ **Berserker**_ _ **attacking a Viking. Scott explains that they are looking for a Chimera which he describes as "a creature made of incongruous parts." According to a new page in the Bestiary, "A Wendigo is strong enough to not only fight an Alpha Werewolf but to possibly win such a fight."**_

"Just great" Derek sighed.

 _ **These vicious supernatural creatures were an unwelcome discovery among the native people of the new world. They are known to have an uncontrollable appetite for human flesh which leads them to kill despite any better judgment they might processes. Sneaky creatures, Wendigos can maintain a human appearance while hiding multiple fanged teethbehind their lips. However, when in their true form, Wendigos' eyes shimmer with a white glow. While there may be a tactical strike known to kill these supernatural cannibals among the tribes who have been most affected by Wendigos, it is yet unknown to us.**_ _ **Stiles falls asleep reading the Bestiary. Malia is clicking her pen over and over again. She thinks back to how the doctors injected Tracy and suddenly decides to go. She tries to wake Stiles but he is out.**_

"Take him with you please" Claudia whispered

 _ **Liam**_ _ **and**_ _ **Mason**_ _ **are heading out for the night in the Beacon Hills Warehouse District. Mason explains that Liam is to be his "wingman" for the night. Liam is less than enthused by the prospect.**_ _ **Hayden Romero**_ _ **works as a "shot girl" at a club called "**_ _ **Sinema**_ _ **" and has agreed to let Mason in through the backdoor. She balks at also allowing Liam inside until Mason gives her $50.**_

"50 was too little for this" Hayden muttered and Liam glared at her.

 _ **Inside the club, Electro House pumps while scantily clad dancers gyrate on lighted platforms. Liam comments that they "don't look old enough to be here." Mason spots**_ _ **Brett Talbot**_ _ **who is dancing with a girl. Liam asks if the club is "mixed" and then notices Brett dancing with a boy. Mason says "ish."**_

"You took me to a gay bar!?" Liam gapes at his best friend who grins.

 _ **Hayden gets a fresh tray of shot vials from the bar. Before she can take them, the bartender drinks one. Hayden reminds him that she has to pay for them herself if she doesn't sell them. He doesn't care and takes another. She tells the bartender to keep getting drunk as usual. He holds out his hand to show how steady it is. Hayden walks away and says "I'm never going to make enough." Liam watches Brett and Mason drink. He senses something in the bar. His senses heighten and he hears the tap, tap, tap of someone's shoes.**_

"Sounds familiar" Liam muttered.

 _ **Scott and Kira step out of the elevator at the hospital and Melissa bring them up to speed on the injured boy they are treating. Liam's stepdad explains that they are going to get an anesthesiologist specializing in acute pain. We can hear a patient screaming and Melissa explains that they've doped him up with morphine but nothing is helping with the pain.**_

"I'm finally in" Corey mumbled. "Dude why are you screaming?" Liam looked at the boy who shrugged, "future me" he said.

 _ **Scott says he can help. He grabs the kid's hand and the tell-tale black lines begin to climb from the injured boy into Scott's arms but something is different. The lines are more intense and Scott seems to be in real pain. Kira and Melissa pull him away, he is exhausted. She shows Scott the injury and says it should have killed him because it is like a scorpion sting but from a ten-foot tall scorpion. The boy gasps out the name "**_ _ **Lucas**_ _ **." In the club, Brett tells Liam that he didn't notice anything supernaturally out of the ordinary. Liam wants to know if anyone else in Sinema is like "us." Brett says he doesn't know but it wouldn't be unusual since it's Beacon Hills. Liam says it felt different, off, wrong. A handsome man wearing a vest catches Mason's eye. He asks Brett about him and learns his name is "Lucas." He has his hands clasped behind his back and suddenly thorn-like spikes begin to form along his arms.**_

"Scorpion man found" Mason yelped.

 _ **Liam again senses something in the club. His eyes glow yellow. Corey is feeling better. He explains to Scott how Lucas changed from being somewhat timid to being way overconfident and aggressive. They were making out when Corey felt a sharp sting on his arm and Lucas' eyes turned black. Corey says Lucas is heading to Sinema. While looking for Mason, Liam runs into Hayden and knocks a full tray of drinks from her hands. She says they're $10 each. Liam offers to pay but can only come up with $12 and change. Hayden says he owes her $200.**_

"I'm letting you off this time" she grumbled.

 _ **Lucas and Mason slip into one of the club's darker corners. A movie is projected onto Mason's shirt. It is night of the living dead with which Lucas is unfamiliar. Mason explains that the zombies win and all the good guys pretty much die. Lucas says it must be better to be a bad guy and moves in to kiss Mason. As they kiss, sharp thorns form on the back of Lucas' neck.**_

"Ew" Lydia shuddered.

 _ **Kira is still trying to digest what they've learned about a kid turning into a half-scorpion/half-werewolf. Scott says there was something Sumerian in the bestiary that fits. Entering the club through the back, Scott and Kira trigger the alarm. She quickly grabs a piece of her "swordbelt" and throws it at the alarm box, severing the electricity. Scott looks at her with admiration and says "God, I love you." Kira is stunned.**_

Allison froze at that, something Scott felt and he started to panic internally. He needed to talk to her about this fast.

 _ **Lucas is moving in on Mason again, his arms spiking up as he does. Suddenly, Brett grabs him from behind and throws him across the room. He turns to Mason and tells him to "Run!" Lucas' eyes go black and he attacks Brett. Kira is stammering about how Scott has once again said something that "changes everything" and he doesn't even realize it. Scott hears the growls from the fight and plunges in. Lucas and Brett spar but eventually the Scorpion thorns slice across the werewolf's abdomen. As Lucas brings his arms up for another blow, Liam tackles him to the floor. Lucas is strong but Liam manages to hold him off. Scott arrives and kicks Lucas off. Lucas easily throws Scott across the room then kicks Liam in the gut. Kira whips out her sword and they spar.**_ _ **Malia Finds Key Evidence and Kira Loses Her Mind.**_ _ **Malia is in Tracy's room sitting on the bed. She goes through the girl's drawings and then notices a small novel on her desk under a wallet. A post-it note says "Here's the book you asked for. Cheesy stuff, but still a fun scary read." The book, by T.R. McCammon is titled "The Dread Doctors" with the tagline "A terrifying tale of science fiction and horror."**_

"Don't those" Stiles pointed out. "They do" Lydia said with a nod.

 _ **The cover image shows the three familiar masks. The book is old with a cover price of just 50 cents. Kira and Lucas fight. He can't really get close enough to touch her and she doesn't land very many effective hits with the sword but does manage to kick him backwards. Liam jumps up, grabs him and throws him to the ground. Lucas' eyes clear. Kira's aura fires up and she prepares for a killing blow on Lucas. She shouts something in Japanese as she runs forward but Scott stops her and calms her down.**_

"Does that sound like a threat to anyone else? Only me? Okay" Mason mumbled.

 _ **Scott and Liam start to move Lucas but a spike shoots out from nowhere and straight through the scorpion boy's middle. The spike is on a string and above, standing on the rafters and lighting rig, the Dread Doctors reel it back in on one of their contraptions. Scott yells at them asking why they killed Lucas. The Surgeon replies, "His condition was terminal." Scott wants to know what that means and the Surgeon says "Failure" before they disappear in a shower of sparks.**_

"I like their exit. What? Give credit where it's due" Peter grumbled.

 _ **At the morgue, Melissa says she's sure they'll come up with some way to explain the stingers in Lucas' arms. She says it will be easier than explaining a tail. Scott is concerned that they are lying but Melissa says maybe it is the best that they can do for now. Scott is beating himself up saying he should have seen it coming and should have stopped it.**_

"And how exactly would you have seen it coming? You didn't even know that existed for sure" Parish asked with a raised eyebrow. Scott said nothing and concentrated on the girl in his arms.

 _ **Melissa says his grandfather had a saying about the word should, "You know what you're doing when you say 'should' too often? You're shoulding all over yourself." Melissa says she can't be the kind of mom to tell Scott not to do something to help because he is always going to want to help. He has the power to do something and cares enough to do it. Scott says he is going to find out who did it and stop them. They turn out the lights in the morgue and exit. Parrish enters and takes the body. He goes to the Nemeton where his body catches on fire also burning Lucas in the process.**_

"uuuhhh what just happened?" Stiles asked.

 _ **The engine in Stiles' Jeep is smoking. He lifts the hood and begins wrapping duct tape around another hose. Donovan comes up behind him and extends his hand. There is a mouth on his hand with tiny little sharp teeth like a**_ _ **lamprey**_ _ **which he slams down on Stiles' shoulder. Stiles yells in pain.**_

"Oh no" Noah mumbled as Claudia buried herself into his side. Lydia grabbed onto Stiles' had firmly like he was gonna disappear.

"Can I talk to you?" Scott asked Allison who looked at him weirdly. "Now? When Stiles' life could be in danger?" she asked in a high pitched voice. Scott gave her hand a slight squeeze then the two walked out the room.


	74. 5-5

"Scott I don't really think" Allison began but was quieted by a kiss on the lips by Scott who wrapped his arms around her back and held her close to him. Scott had suddenly asked to talk, just the two of them. Personally, Allison thought that whatever he had to say could wait since Stiles could quite possibly get eaten by the cannibalistic hot head. But the kiss had pushed that thought at the back of her mind, her arms wrapping themselves around her boyfriend's neck.

She felt just a few seconds pass which in reality was about a good 15 minutes before Scott had broken the kiss. The couple, foreheads touching each other stared into each other's eyes. "W what was that for?" Allison stammered out gently, still a bit flustered from the whole kiss. "To show you that you are still mine and I am yours. The future can and will be changed. One of the biggest changes would be you alive, hand in hand with me as we tackle on whatever else that comes our way" Scott whispered to her. Allison blinked then buried her face into the crook of his neck, "I hope so too. God I hope so badly that happens. But you saw you and Kira, how much you two care for each other. And that just made me feel" she sighed and nuzzled his neck gently. Scott kissed the side of her head and rubbed her back, "In that timeline, you are dead. I guess I moved on. But never truly. I don't know how I can tell but I can tell you for sure that I never completely moved on. My love for you will always be there. And in our future that love will be brighter than any other we might see in these memories or whatever they are called". Allison looked up at Scott, "Promise?" she whispered. Scott smiled and gave her another kiss, "promise".

The two had remained in the room for another few good minutes before they returned. The scene that welcomed them was Stiled perched between his parents and Lydia sitting right behind him while he looked very annoyed. His eyes fell on the couple and he let out a sigh, "finally! Come sit down so that I can show them that I will be alright" he whined. Allison held back a giggle and the two sat back down, in their seats right in front of Stiles and the next clip played.

 ** _Stiles struggles with Donovan in the parking lot of Beacon Hills High School. Stiles manages to get away, head butting him and striking him with a wrench. He flees into the school._**

"See!" he said in exasperation but no one listened to him, his mother holding onto his hand for dear life while his father clamped down on his shoulder.

 ** _Donovan follows. A mouth, like the one seen on his hand earlier, appears on his neck briefly then disappears._**

"That's so gross" Hayden muttered and shivered.

 ** _Stiles uses his student ID to access the library keycard reader and unlock the doors. Donovan does the same with another key card a few seconds later. Stiles phone buzzes. Donovan picks it up and says it is Malia and offers to text her back. Donovan tells a story about how his father became paralyzed in a shootout. A bullet shattered his T-9 vertebra. Sheriff Stilinski, a deputy at the time, was calling for backup at the time and Donovan believes this to be cowardice on his Stilinski's part. He says his father was paralyzed from the waist down by the incident and he blames the Sheriff._**

Noah gritted his teeth. No matter how much people told him, he still blamed himself for that. If only he had gone in with his partner and gave him back up then this might not have actually happened in the first place. And because of that, his son was now in grave danger.

 ** _Stiles, from his hiding place among the rows of books, sees Donovan climb the stairs but seconds later Donovan is on the same level and grabs Stiles by the throat pulling him through the bookshelf._**

Everyone's breath's caught in their throats. Except Theo's cause he didn't care.

 ** _They struggle over to some scaffolding repairmen are using to do construction on the interior. Stiles begins to climb. Donovan quickly grabs his legs and says he plans to eat them. His eyes flash white showing that the Dread Doctors used Wendigo as part of his chimeric genetic makeup. Stiles sees a pin with a ring just above him. It is holding up part of the structure and he grasps for it. Finally getting hold and pulling it out, he releases several metal bars on top of Donovan. He falls backward impaled on one of the bars._**

There was stunned silence at what had just happened.

 ** _Stiles approaches and starts to try pull the bar out of Donovans' chest but stops. Donovan gasps, coughs and dies. The doctors silver fluid flows from the wound._**

"I…killed him" Stiles muttered horrified. Noah squeezed his shoulder's a bit too tight that it made him wince and face his father, "You did not kill him! It was self-defense!" Noah said calmly looking right into his son's eyes. "He's right Stiles" Scott spoke up, "you were only protecting yourself there. You had no other choice" he continued. Stiles said nothing but kept his horrified gaze on the screen.

 ** _A 911 call is displayed via a graphical sound wave on screen. The caller does not speak but can be heard breathing. The operator asks several times about the nature of the emergency. Another voice is heard asking where the call is coming from. The operator says the school and they dispatch a car to check it out. Stiles hangs up the phone in the library. He looks again at Donovan's body then makes to head outside leaving a book to prop the door open. Then he hears his phone buzzing. He returns to retrieve it from Donovan's pocket. The call is from Malia. He rejects the call, then runs out the door. Stiles manages to start his jeep then sits for a moment trying to figure out what to do. He hears sirens, turns off the headlights and backs into a darkened corner of the parking lot as the sheriff's patrol truck pulls into the lot. Stiles watches as the deputy enters the school. He is nervous and out of sorts. His hands are still covered in Donovan's blood and he can't keep them still._**

Claudia firmly held her son's hands as they too had begun to shake.

 ** _The deputy exits the school and radios back to dispatch. Stiles quickly turns on his scanner and hears the officer say the call was a "653" which is a "prank call" in the Beacon Hills department. The officer drives away. Stiles returns to the school and finds the library clean. Donovan's body is gone and there is no obvious sign of the earlier struggle but Stiles touches one of the steel beams and his hand comes away wet with fresh blood._**

"The body couldn't have just disappeared like that!" Stiles said out loud shakily. "Maybe he is still alive" Mason added feeling a bit freaked out. Stiles shook his head, "Nothing can survive a stab right through its heart. Not even a man eating hot head" Stiles said shakily.

 ** _Scott and Kira are in bed together. She is talking in her sleep repeating the Japanese phrase she used when attacking Lucas. Scott's phone beeps. He picks it up and sees that the alarm at the animal clinic has been tripped. Back at home now, Stiles writes up three scenarios on his "murder board" – "Donovan not dead. Walked out," "Donovan Dead" and "Someone took the body." He seems near tears, lower lip quivering, as he frantically erases the list. He throws the eraser at the board and begins to rub his shoulder where Donovan's hand "bit" him._**

Noah put an arm around his son and gave him a one armed hug.

 ** _Stiles phone buzzes. He answers and Scott tells him someone has stolen the body of Tracy Stewart from the Animal clinic and Lucas's body from the hospital morgue. In the Beacon Hills Preserve near the Nemeton, Deputy Parrish unloads Donovan's body and carries it away. His eyes glow orange and he seems to be in a trance._**

"You don't seem to be in control" Derek pointed out. Parrish shrugged not really knowing what was happening.

 ** _Lydia and Malia discuss the book "The Dread Doctors" by T.R. McCammon as they enter School the next day. Malia says she's read it but it didn't make any sense. Lydia says there is something familiar about the book and they should all read it. Malia says Kira is working on that. Kira is in the library running off copies of the book. Malia says Stiles can't find anything on the author and believes it is a pen name. Lydia reads the back cover:_**

 ** _"In a small New England town, teenagers are taken in the night and buried alive. Days later they emerge transformed wreaking havoc and spreading terror, commanded by an ancient order of parascientists known only as the Dread Doctors."_**

 ** _Lydia says it sounds "vaguely familiar."_**

"Vaguely familiar is a loose way of saying it's exactly what's happening right now" Corey muttered to Mason who nodded.

 ** _She asks Malia how the book ends. She says it doesn't that the book they have is volume 1 but there is no volume 2. Malia thinks they're living volume 2._**

"Always wanted to live in a fantasy" Lydia said weakly to try and get Stiles' mind off the whole Donovan thing. It didn't help.

 ** _Scott talks to Kira in the library explaining that he doesn't believe the Dread Doctors are stealing the bodies because on two occasions that they know about the doctors left their victims behind. Kira agrees that someone else must be taking them. Scott says the bodies aren't just bodies, "they're failures." Kira wonders if the chimeras are all failures what a success might be._**

"Something far worse" Liam shrugged. Hayden rolls her eyes and smacks the back of his head, "Stating the obvious much?" she said with a grunt.

 ** _As Scott is leaving the library he catches a scent of blood._**

Stiles froze slightly.

 ** _Scott shows the book to Theo. He feigns ignorance claiming "I'd never even heard of a Kanima until a few days ago." He comments on the fact that Scott's pack gets involved a lot then suggests Scott look for the author of the book. Scott explains that it's a dead end. Theo then "finds" the acknowledgements page in the book._**

"Of course it's you" Stiles growled.

 ** _In class Malia wants to know why Lydia's heart is beating so fast. Lydia shows her the acknowledgements page. "For providing scientific perspective and invaluable insight this book is dedicated to Dr. Gabriel Valack." At the Dread Doctor's lair, Theo says the book worked and they're going to find Valack at Eichen House._**

"Of course it had to be doctor 3 eyes who is just 2 eyes now" Liam groaned and got hit on the head again.

 ** _Stiles insists on accompanying Lydia to Eichen House to see Valack. She says he doesn't have to go because he earlier claimed he was sick. She points out that Malia won't be going. Stiles explains that Malia is staying away because she knows it is a "nightmare asylum of insanity and death." He insists on going._**

"Yeah taking you would be a good idea" Lydia mumbled.

 ** _Stiles winces as he puts on his hoodie. Lydia notices and asks him about it. He lies and says he has a bad elbow. She points out that it was his shoulder and he says "pain radiates." He still insists he is coming, reminding her of what happened to Deaton when he talked to Valack and reminding her of their own run in with Brunski. Kira and Scott are scouring his room for her belt. She tries to bring up the fact that Scott said he loved her but backs out. She then asks him to look at her with his werewolf eyes. He sees the hulking, flaming fox aura surrounding her. The aura points to the belt under his bed. Scott doesn't tell her about the aura. He directs her to the belt and says everything else is fine._**

"Never lie to someone about their powers" Peter groaned.

 ** _Lydia tries to buzz in at Eichen House. Stiles and Scott discuss the fact that Kira spoke Japanese without knowing how and tried to take Lucas' head off until Scott stopped her. Stiles, thinking of his own experience with Donovan but not mentioning it outright, asks if there is ever a time that killing in self-defense is alright. Scott says no because these creatures they're fighting are the victims. They are the people they're trying to save._**

"Unless you do not have any other choice and you did not mean to kill him" Scott corrected himself. Stiles looked at him with a raised eyebrow, "Oh don't look at me like that! I know for a fact that you just wanted him knocked out by getting hit on the head and that happened" Scott said with a mild glare. Stiles wanted to protest but even he could feel that arguing wouldn't be the best option. Also it could have been just as Scott said it was.

 ** _The Eichen House gate opens and they all climb the stairs, pausing as one and turning back as the gate shuts and locks behind them. Eichen House orderly Schrader makes the group remove everything from their pockets. He also insists that Kira remove her belt because a patient might get hold of it and hurt themselves or someone else. Schrader stares at Lydia. Stiles notices the pin from the scaffolding was still in his pocket._**

"Is it just me or does that orderlyknow much more than he lets on" Mason asked but got no reply.

 ** _As a favor to Deaton and against his better judgment, Conrad Fenris leads the group down to the supernatural ward at Eichen House. Stiles asks about the etiquette for meeting with Dr. Valack, specifically should they look into his third eye. Fenris recommends avoiding eye contact with any of the patients. Malia is reading The Dread Doctors novel again in the library at school. Theo comes and sits with her, taking out his pre-calculus textbook. They share a couple of looks, suspicious Malia and cocky Theo._**

"I should rip your throat out" Malia snarled. Theo shrugged and looked at the screen with a smirk making Malia growl.

 ** _Halfway down the hallway at Eichen, Scott and Kira stop. Fenris explains that the Mountain Ash in the walls is thick and they can't go any further. Lydia and Stiles go in together. They pass cells, the first contains a female with the same facial deformity we saw with The Mute. In the next cell Stiles sees Donovan but as he walks a few steps further he sees that what he thought was Donovan is actually a bulky creature with large pointy ears and an enlarged mouth with many sharp teeth._**

"Hell bunny" Liam shivered and that comment made Hayden give him a weird look.

 ** _Valack demands that Stiles tell him what he just saw. He explains that the creature in the next cell is a Sluagh and the myth goes that they can take on the appearance of the lost souls that have become inextricably bound to it. He asks if Stiles saw any lost souls and he says everybody down there is a lost soul. Valack says don't' give up on them yet because we're all works in progress. Lydia recognizes the phrase and asks him where he heard it. Valack says it was "wise words" from a former cellmate._**

"I got quoted" Peter smirked.

 ** _Valack explains that he wrote the book "The Dread Doctors" and that it is also a tool designed to open the readers' eyes to the Dread Doctors. Malia begins packing up her stuff to leave and Theo offers her a ride. She says she'll take the bus and he says the last one left already. He then brings up her drivers' education class and how she almost ran over a student. He offers her his keys so that she can practice and she accepts._**

Malia growls a little.

 ** _Valack explains that he used a pseudonym for the book because he had to protect his professional reputation from the ruination of putting it on a second rate piece of trash. He says he wrote the book because no one believed him. He surmises that they have returned, this time in Beacon Hills. He says they're not entirely human anymore. He says they were scientists who worshiped the supernatural. He then quotes Nikola Tesla "If you want to find the secrets of the universe, think in terms of energy, frequency and vibration." Valack says the Dread Doctors found their secrets in electromagnetic forces it allowed them to prolong their lives, give them power and most importantly making you forget you ever saw them._**

"Mess with the rain waves" Stiles hummed slowly coming out of his state of panic.

 ** _Valack then bargains with Lydia for more information. He wants her to record a scream into a digital recorder in exchange for the rest of the story. Scott can't hear anything through the Mountain Ash. Kira says she feels weak. Scott likens it to sedation. Kira regrets coming. Scott says Lydia and Stiles make a good team. He points out that they don't have super strength or samurai swords but they manage to stay alive. Scott talks about how obsessed Stiles used to be with Lydia and how that has grown into a strong friendship and partnership. He also reveals that Lydia used to pretend not to be smart but that Stiles knew the truth because he listened, remembered and paid attention._**

Both mentioned people blushed but for different reasons. Stiles because his best friend revealed his secret. Which really wasn't one for a while but still was embarrassing. And Lydia because someone, mainly a guy actually paid attention to her smallest of details which didn't include how much cleavage she showed.

 ** _The lights begin to flicker. Lightning flickers around Kira's hand._**

"Oh shit" Peter swore. Derek gave his uncle an odd look before it dawned on him as well and he swore internally.

 ** _Lydia tries to convince Stiles to let her record the scream. Stile says Valack is a nutjob. Valack asks how many are dead so far and asks if they want to know how many died the first time the Dread Doctors came "here." Valack says it happened before and the doctors are back because "a few teenagers who never even considered the consequences decided to reignite a supernatural force they barely understand."_**

"And that kids is how you get Lydia to do what you want her to do" Allison said teasingly earning a playful glare from her best friend.

 ** _Lydia realizes he is talking about the Nemeton and Stiles asks how he would know. Valack says he saw it and removes the bandage revealing the hole in his head the third eye inside his skull. In the hallway, Kira is now consumed in lightning. Scott asks her to stop but she claims she's not doing anything. The lights in Valack's cell begin to flicker and he realizes they brought a Kitsune with them as one of the overhead fixtures sparks and explodes. Valack explains that Kira is disrupting the building's defenses. He says they use more than Mountain Ash. They also use electromagnetic energy. Eichen is built on a convergence of Telluric Currents or ley and that power allows them to keep certain supernaturals in and others out. Valack says they knew Kira was coming and the short circuit of the electromagnetic defenses allows the Dread Doctors to walk right in to Eichen House._**

"Oh no" Scott said in horror.

 ** _Theo makes fun of Malia for driving the speed limit and for the way she holds her hands on the steering wheel. She begins to flash back to the night her mother and sister were killed in a wreck. Her foot presses further down on the gas pedal and the truck accelerates. Theo freaks and tries to get the wheel. He manages to get her to stop and Malia stumbles out of the truck. She kneels on the pavement and remembers that there had been another car in the road the night her family died. She remembers a female figure with two guns firing at their car and causing it to wreck. She believes this figure was her birthmother, The Desert Wolf._**

Malia blinked in shock.

 ** _At Eichen, more lights explode and Kira collapses still bathed in electricity. Scott rushes to her side but as he reaches out to her a bolt of lightning knocks him across the room._**

"Ouch" Mason winced.

 ** _Valack urges Lydia to record her scream. Stiles wants to bargain. Lydia demands to know what the book does. Valack explains that it clears the memory centers of the brain and allows the reader to remember the Dread Doctors. He says if you've seen them, if they've done something to you then the book will help you remember. Anyone taken by the doctors would be able to remember after reading the book. He wrote the book in hopes of finding others like himself who had seen them before. Lydia begins to remember her experience in which the Beacon Hills Hospital staff turned into the Dread Doctors. Lydia takes the digital recorder from Stiles and hits record._**

A few people groaned.

 ** _Doctor Fenris tells Scott they need to get Kira out of the building but Scott can't touch her with the lightning sill firing off her. The Dread Doctors kill an orderly at the end of the hall and then trigger the electronic door open. Fenris runs away through a door marked stairs. Scott refuses to leave Kira and with the lightning scorching the skin of his face and arms he lifts her and carries her through the same door. Lydia slips the recorder back into Valack's cell as alarms sound throughout Eichen House. Lydia asks what the doctors want and Valack again tells her to read the book. Stiles and Lydia manage to hide as the Dread Doctors pass down the hall past them. The doctors reach Valack's cell and use a device to pluck out his third eye. He screams in pain and drops to the floor. The doctors leave._**

"Oh God that's so much more gross" Allison swallowed down her own vomit.

 ** _Scott gets Kira outside and the lightning subsides. He is badly burned and obviously exhausted. They lay together on the pavement. He says he remembers what he said at the club and that he meant it. He loves her. Lydia says she thinks they're okay, meaning the doctors are gone. Stiles says they're not okay. He believes they are to blame for everything the Dread Doctors have done or will do. Lydia says it's their responsibility._**

"Ah so that works on Stiles too" Allison smirked while Stiles grunted and puffed his cheeks.

 ** _In his cell, Valack crawls to the glass, takes the digital recorder and places it in a cup and the cup against the glass of his enclosure. Lydia's scream plays out of the recorder. The glass begins to crack._**

"No" Lydia groan herself this time.


	75. 5-6

**_Scott McCall is lying on the floor grasping for an asthma inhaler. His breath comes in ragged gasps._**

"Cheery start" Scott said drily.

 ** _The Pathologist steps on the inhaler, crushing it and releasing the medicine within in a puff of gas._**

"Well there goes that" Stiles sighed.

 ** _The Dread Doctor picks Scott up by the throat and holds him against the wall of the hospital corridor. The elevator door chimes open and Malia Tate, with fangs bared, comes rushing out. The doctor casts Scott aside as Malia attacks. They fight but Malia makes little headway._**

"I love how they just throw Scott away and go after the girl. Like even after years they go for the women" Peter joked only to get slapped behind the b=head by his nephew, then his niece and lastly by his sister.

 ** _Melissa McCall rushes out and helps Scott back to the elevator. She injects him with a "bronchodilator" to ease his asthma symptoms. The Pathologist grabs Malia by the throat but she manages to break free and runs to the elevator. The doors close just as the doctor reaches them, and inside the car, they hear a great thud and the elevator shakes. Scott tells Malia they should have never read the book._**

"Note to self, never read books again" Scott muttered to himself. Allison looked at him with an amused stare, hearing what he had said.

 ** _Two nights earlier, Sheriff's deputies arrive at Beacon Hills High School and find someone has dug eight large holes in the athletic field. Sheriff Stilinski draws a red X through a picture of Tracy Stewart on the corkboard in his office. A picture of Lucas is marked in a similar fashion. Stiles and Malia explain that they have two dead chimeras and eight new ones. The sheriff believes there may be another one and ads a picture of Donovan to the board. He explains that the department's tech guys believe both the holding cell lock and the cameras were disabled by electromagnetic interference the night Donovan escaped. Stiles turns away. Malia says if Donovan was a failure then he is likely dead and moves to X out his picture. The sheriff stops her and says he would need to see a body first. Stiles believes the teens were chosen by the Dread Doctors for a reason. They need to find what made these specific teenagers special. Donovan's booking number, seen on his mugshot, is 008372782. Lydia Martin and Jordan Parrish are training together. He reminds her to keep her arms up so that she can deflect the enemy's blows while still keeping watch on them. He worries about her recent surgery. She removes her jacket and lifts up her shirt to show him the stitches are holding and she is not bleeding._**

"No but they can get ripped if you jump around too much" Stiles pointed out. Lydia just shrugged at that, she needed to learn to protect herself.

 ** _He removes his jacket as well and they continue to spar. He gets the better of her and wraps her in his arms. He asks her what she did wrong and she says she forgot to keep her arms up. He says eventually she will do it automatically due to muscle memory. They have a moment where they suddenly realize they are in each other's arms. They do not pull away._**

"You're a good teacher Parrish. A bit too touchy but good nonetheless" Noah smirked at the man who nodded with a slight blush.

 ** _Parrish has his hand on her arm and it suddenly turns into the glove of one of the Dread Doctors. She has a series of flashes where she is on the operating table with the Doctors working on her. She jerks away. He asks what is wrong and she says, "Muscle memory." Scott explains to Theo that they are looking for anyone at school acting "a little off or a little weird." Theo points out that everyone is a little weird in high school._**

"Hate to say this but the kid is right" Melissa said with a weak laugh.

 ** _Theo warns Scott that Tracy went on a killing spree after reading The Dread Doctors novel. Scott asks if Theo thinks it is a bad idea to read the book. Theo says he thinks Malia almost getting run down in the road could have been bad. Scott says they have not yet finished reading it but they plan to. Theo says he came to Beacon Hills hoping to find a pack, not to watch one fall apart. Scott says the book is all they have to go on. Theo volunteers to read the book too._**

"Because it won't do shit to him since he is so closely tied with those plague doctors" Stiles said with a slight growl.

 ** _Scott, Stiles, Lydia, Malia, Kira and Theo gather at Scott's house to read the book. Stiles cracks a joke about how the book makes people have violent hallucinations. Scott says Malia is there just in case that or something worse should happen. Malia says it is like what happened to Judy in the book. They all look at her. She explains that it is in Chapter 14._**

"Someone likes the books" Theo snorted. "Shut up Raeken" Malia growled.

 ** _Lydia is hopeful the book will work as Valack said it would because she saw the Dread Doctors during her surgery. She says that if they did something to her, she needs to know. They all take their photocopies of the book and begin to read._**

 ** _The Dread Doctors by T.R. McCammon_**

 ** _It was her salvation._**

 ** _As if she knew what Judy was thinking, Amy turned and hissed a challenge. Her jaw extended impossibly low, revealing rows of deadly fangs_**

 ** _With a roar, Amy charged her friend. Judy swung the bat as hard as she could and connected with the side of Amy's head. The creature went down but was up again before Judy could react. In an instant the bat was out of her hands and clanging at her feet. Amy swiped her taloned hands ripping Judy's shirt and the skin beneath._**

 ** _Judy cried out as she collapsed to the floor._**

 ** _Before she knew it, Amy was on top of her, but not before Judy could get her foot up and under Amy's chest. Amy snarled and squirmed gnashing her teeth inches from Judy's face. With all of her might, Judy kicked as hard as she could sending Amy backwards against the concrete wall._**

 ** _Amy righted herself, looked back to Judy and.._**

 ** _Crack! Judy smashed the bat across Amy's face. Amy hissed and..._**

 ** _...the floor and roll away. Her chest rose and fell again and again as she sucked air into her lungs. As the adrenaline began to wear off, Judy felt her eyes sting with tears. She looked away from the twisted remains of the creature that was once her friend as a wail escaped her lips._**

 ** _With a labored step, Judy turned toward the open door at the end of the walkway. Blood pounded in her ears every step of the way like the droning of a great cloud of bees._**

 ** _She pushed the door open until it clanged against the outside wall. Night air filled her lungs and for the first time in weeks Judy felt like everything was going to be all right._**

 ** _She stepped outside into the darkness and ran like hell._**

 ** _Scott checks in on the group but so far the book seems to make the readers only tired and hungry. Malia pours coffee and notices Stiles rubbing his shoulder. She asks about it, saying she could smell the blood. He lies and says the hood of the jeep fell on it. She listens to his heartbeat. Theo overhears the conversation._**

"Of course he does" Stiles grumbled.

 ** _Stiles asks about Malia's flashback to the accident. She lies, leaving out the bit about seeing her birth mother firing pistols at the car. Theo overhears this as well._**

"You should stop listening in on other people talking. And you two should actually share what it is that's bothering you. You two might be able to help each other out" Talia said. Theo just rolled his eyes but Stiles and Malia looked pensive.

 ** _Kira takes a nap._**

"The most logical thing to do when reading" Liam said with a snort.

 ** _At Sinema, Hayden Romero is selling glow sticks instead of shots. A patron complains because his stick does not glow anymore. She explains that they do not last forever. He asks for his money back and she gives him another glow stick saying she hates "all ages night."_**

Mason snorted at that but Liam looked slightly sad at the scene which caught Hayden's eyes more than the snort she received from his best friend.

 ** _Liam arrives with $43 to help pay for the drinks he caused Hayden to spill. She refuses to take it despite the fact that she earlier told him that he owes $200._**

"Just take the money Hayden" Liam sighed. "I don't need your charity Liam" Hayden said with a glare. "It's not a charity. It's what I owe you. Well not all of it but it's a start so take it" Liam glared back. "They do realize that it's in the future right?" Corey whispered to Mason who shrugged, "They just need a matter to argue over. They don't care what it is" he chuckled.

 ** _The power goes out. Liam follows Hayden to the fuse boxes in a nearby room. She tells him that if he is trying to be a nice guy, she really does not care. He says he is just trying to make up for the 6_** ** _th_** ** _grade. She says nothing will make up for that. She manages to push the lever on one of the fuse boxes but the other is stuck. Liam places his hand on hers and helps her push up the lever, restoring full power to the club. He says she can go on hating him if she wants but he owes her $200 and offers her the $43 again. She takes it._**

Hayden watched the scene, done with her glaring for the moment and sighed.

 ** _Everyone has fallen asleep while reading the book. Only Theo is still awake and he records Kira speaking Japanese in her sleep on his phone._**

The eyes of mostly everyone in the room narrows.

 ** _The next day at school, Scott speculates that they might need some sort of trigger, like Malia's driving, to make the book's supposed memory-inducing function to work. Stiles wonders how they are supposed to trigger a memory that they do not remember. Scott suggests it might be a delayed thing. The lights in the school hallway flicker. They both look at Kira._**

"I love how everyone assumes it was Kira whenever the light flickers" Lydia chuckled.

 ** _She denies responsibility for the electricity issue. Scott says they need to keep an eye on each other throughout the day. Stiles says they should also keep an eye out for eight, potentially homicidal, chimeras. Kira says they should also look out for the Dread Doctors. Stiles says he is beginning to see the appeal of a third eye._**

"No. Still disgusting" Allison mumbled.

 ** _Mrs. Finch explains invasive species in AP Biology. She uses the real-world example of the Cane Toad in Australia. Lydia notices Sydney scratching her head and texts Theo, "Chimera?" Theo texts back, "Look at her hair." Sydney pulls out a handful of hair and looks panicked. Finch says, "once an invasive species is introduced, everything changes."_**

"Why is AP Biology teaching you things that could potentially lead to you guys solving this mystery or whatever and stopping the dread doctors?" Parrish pointed out. "Science" Stiles shrugged.

 ** _Sydney quickly gets up and places a "course drop" form on Finch's desk. Finch calls it a "wise decision." Lydia gets up to follow Sydney out of the classroom. Scott stares down at his own "course drop" form. Lydia finds Sydney in another room. Sydney explains that she has been losing her hair for three years whenever she is under a lot of stress. She shows Lydia the bald patch. It transforms from a slightly irritated bit of hairless skin to a ragged trepanation hole and Lydia flashes on something from her childhood._**

 ** _Lydia's Flashback_**

 ** _Lydia hears her mother's voice saying she told her to stay in the car._**

 ** _Lydia as a child walks through one of the metal mesh doors at Eichen House. She hears a drill and water running. She then sees a power drill with a bloody drill bit lying in a sink._**

 ** _An older woman, Lorraine Martin, is in a bathtub. Blood oozes from a nickel-sized hole in her skull just above her left ear._**

 ** _Natalie Martin and an orderly are with her. Blood and bathwater covers the floor._**

 ** _Natalie turns to yell at Lydia, "I told you to stay in the car!"_**

 ** _Lorraine leans up from the tub and address her granddaughter, "They're coming Lydia. They're coming for all of us."_**

"That is not a good message" Stiles muttered as he rubbed the hand on his shoulder which was squeezing him hard.

 ** _Lydia comes back to consciousness with Scott leaning over her and Theo standing nearby. Her hand is shaking but she says she is fine. They help her up and she explains that she did not remember anything about the Dread Doctors or the surgery. She says it was about her grandmother at Eichen House. Natalie Martin runs in and asks if Lydia blacked out or fainted. Her daughter lies and says she fainted._**

The parents sigh, their kids needed to share these bits. They might not be overly helpful, but they could still put in some tidbits that they had missed.

 ** _Kira is trying to read the book in school library. Mason comes and sits with her. He asks if she speaks Japanese. Kira explains that she does not speak Japanese or Korean and is pushing a C average in English. He explains that he has been reading up on Kitsunes and has found that fox spirits have trouble with language. He says it is why, in Japan, they have the tradition of saying "moshi, moshi" for "hello" when answering the phone. He says the repeated word would confuse a kitsune because it is a language trick. Saying moshi twice confirms the person on the phone is not a kitsune. Mason says The Dread Doctors book is just one long language trick and that is why Kira is having trouble reading it._**

"That's interesting" Scott muttered.

 ** _The lights in the library flicker. Kira again denies responsibility. Scott presents his "course drop" form to Ms. Finch. Scott's student ID number is V 10 – 92 – 7681. She calls him back because he forgot to sign the form. She asks him why he is dropping and he says time commitment. She reminds him of why he took the class in the first place, because he wants to be a vet and it is a prerequisite for the college he wants. Finch says she does not think Scott should drop the course._**

"Listen to the teacher son" Rafael insists.

 ** _Scott begins having trouble breathing and collapses. Ms. Finch calls for help._**

 ** _Scott's Flashbackt_**

 ** _He sees a bloody leash. Two dogs are fighting. One of the dogs' collars says "Roxy."_**

 ** _Scott is at the hospital and sees his younger self rolling in on a gurney. Melissa McCall is with him. She tells him he is okay and that he just needs to breathe. The bloody leash is looped around his arm and he asks, "Where's Roxy?" Melissa says she did not make it._**

 ** _In the present, Scott's breathing comes in shallow gasps as Ms. Finch begins to freak out demanding to know where she can find his inhaler. She calls out to nearby students to find an inhaler. On the athletic field, Liam is practicing lacrosse while Hayden is practicing soccer. In the stands, Mason and Brett Talbot discuss the possible chimeras. Brett says everyone at Devenford Prep is abnormal to him. Mason ticks off the things for which they should look: heightened strength, smell, hearing, speed. Brett adds the ability to see in the dark. Mason says, "Glowing eyes." Brett says, "Eyes that reflect the light." Mason says they should also look for visible scorpion stingers protruding out of limbs. Brett says they should also look for three-foot lizard tails._**

"That narrows it down" Siles says with mock cheer.

 ** _Liam takes a shot at goal but it goes high. Hayden sees this and smirks. She kicks and scores a goal. Liam shoots again and scores this time. They repeat the process, goal for goal, several times until Liam strikes the goalie with the ball and knocks him down. Mason explains to Brett how Hayden and Liam's rivalry began. In 6_** ** _th_** ** _grade there was fight in the hallway between Liam and another guy. Hayden walked into it and got a busted nose. It was apparently close to the time for yearbook photos. Mason displays the yearbook on his phone. Hayden has a piece of tape over the bridge of her nose and two black eyes. Brett asks what she then did to Liam and Mason shows a yearbook photo of young Liam with two black eyes._**

"That's why you two hate each other!?" Stiles looks at the two who nods. He just snorts and looks away.

 ** _A student runs onto the field asking if anyone has an inhaler. Liam suddenly knows Scott is in trouble. He runs into the room with an inhaler. He gives it to Scott, who just holds it. Liam's eyes flash yellow and he growls Scott's name. Scott snaps alert and sucks on the inhaler. Hayden is watching from the hall and smiles._**

"Someone might be getting over it" Allison mutters to which Scott nods.

 ** _Lydia and Stiles arrive at the hospital. She has come to the conclusion that, because her vision of her grandmother had nothing to do with the Dread Doctors, her memories of the doctors have something to do with her Banshee abilities. She believes the memories belong to someone else and she wants to return to the operating room to see if she hears anything. Theo is working out at school when he senses someone coming toward the gym. He strips off his shirt and, bare-chested, continues his workout as Malia comes in._**

"That won't even make you a bit comforting to look at" Malia rolled her eyes.

 ** _She wants to know why Theo has not revealed to the others about her memory of the Desert Wolf. He says he did not figure she wanted him to tell Scott. She says she does not. He continues to work out until she grabs the Butterfly Press and holds the weight in place. She wants to know if he expects a favor in return. He says he does not need any favors. She demands to know what he wants. He says he wants in the pack. She says it is not up to her. He says she should tell Scott about her memory if she wants but "If you've got something else in mind, I'm okay with that too." Malia releases the arms of the butterfly press and the weight snaps back. Theo rubs his chest as if the machine caused some strain._**

Malia snorts.

 ** _Deputy Clark rushes up to Hayden at school. They are sisters. Hayden had apparently forgotten a bottle of prescription meds at home. She says one bottle costs $200. Liam overhears this conversation. Deputy Clark says Liam "got cute" which he also overhears. Liam smiles._**

"Typical" Hayden rolls her eyes but she had a rare smile on her face, one she doesn't get hen talking about or to Liam.

 ** _Scott and Theo discuss his asthma attack in the locker room. Scott says he thinks the memory triggered a psychosomatic reaction. Theo reveals that he recorded Kira speaking Japanese in her sleep. He says he used a web-based translator and that she is saying, "I am the messenger of death." Scott explains about the changes he senses in Kira's aura. He says it is supposed to be part of her but it seems to be taking over. Scott says he does not know if he can trust Kira anymore. The lights in the locker room flicker._**

"Now don't say that!" surprisingly it was Allison who said that. Scott looked at her in confusion. "You dated the girl, slept with her too probably and told her you love her. You can trust her because you know her well" Allison insisted, not entirely sure why she was defending the girl. "I'll relay that message to future me" Scott smirked making Allison blush.

 ** _Scott and Theo both hear a sound like wires sparking. It is coming from the basement. The operating room at the hospital is dark. Stiles tries the lights but they do not work. He suggests that they do not need the lights since Lydia is trying to listen. She says she would like to see as well and sends Stiles to find someone to get the lights on. Melissa explains to Stiles that they have been having power issues for the last hour and that the operating room is on backup lighting. In the basement of the school Scott and Theo find a bundle of wires that have been ripped out. They spark and fizzle. Lydia hears a beeping in the operating room and is drawn to a surgical monitor. She hears the voice of The Surgeon saying, "Hayden," over and over._**

"Me!?" Hayden yelps.

 ** _Malia joins Scott and Theo at school. Scott asks about Kira and is told she is still at the library while Stiles and Lydia are at the hospital waiting for the power to come back on. Scott quickens his pace. On the roof of the hospital a chimera with very large fangs is chewing on a power cable._**

"What in seven hells is that thing!?" Stiles screamed, no one answered.

 ** _At Sinema, Phil the bartender is interviewing a potential employee. He explains that the base pay is not much but with tips one could make up to a grand in one night. He has the young man remove his shirt and then says he would probably make less money. Liam is trying to give Hayden $25. He says he heard about the medication and wants to pay what he owes her. She says it does not matter now and Phil takes half her money anyway. She says it was not his fault. He, thinking she is talking about the 6_** ** _th_** ** _grade again, says he punched her in the face. She means the drink spillage. She says the medicine is Mycophenolate which is to keep her body from rejecting a kidney transplant she received "a few years ago." She says she works at Sinema so that her sister will not have to pay for all of it._**

"A transplant?" Lydia thought to herself.

 ** _She says she will make the money back somehow. Liam asks if Phil actually takes half of it and she urges him to listen to him brag about it. Liam turns his werewolf hearing toward Phil and hears, "It's not like they're going to do anything about it. They're all under the table because they're too young to be selling alcohol anyway." Liam seems to realize something about Hayden and asks her to close her eyes. She eventually agrees and he cracks one of the glow sticks. He holds it up to her face and asks her to open her eyes, they are highly reflective._**

Hayden's eyes widen, "I'm a chimera?" she whispered and grabbed onto Liam's hand becoming scared. Liam looked at Hayden and decided to to say anything and just squeeze her hand back.

 ** _Lydia hears, "Hayden," again from the surgical monitor. She then sees the young man from the roof on the operating table. The Dread Doctors peel back his skin revealing a glowing blue musculature underneath. They say, "Your condition worsens."_**

 ** _Stiles' Flashback_**

 ** _Stiles enters the elevator at the hospital and sees, reflected in the doors, a woman standing behind him._**

 ** _She brushes past him when the doors open and he follows, calling her "mom."_**

Claudia sighed sadly.

 ** _He follows her onto the roof where she stands on the ledge. Sheriff Stilinski brushes past him and urges "Claudia" down from the ledge. She says, "I couldn't stand to be in that room anymore, not with him looking at me like that. He's trying to hurt me. I don't care if you don't believe me but he is! He's trying to kill me!"_**

"What am I talking about?" Claudia asks her husband quietly. Noah looks at her and then looks at Stiles and blinks. Claudia gasps and looks at her son who was chewing his cheeks from nervousness.

 ** _The Sheriff reminds her that her dementia makes her paranoid. It becomes clear that Claudia is paranoid about Stiles who is 10 years old. Stiles, in tears now, looks down at his shadow and sees it is that of a young child. Claudia begins to scream at him to "stop looking at me like that." She rushes forward but as she begins to beat on him._**

Claudia chokes back a sob and hugs her frozen son tight, "I am so sorry! I don't mean that. I don't mean any of that!" she whispered into his arm where she buried her face. Stiles blinks out of his stupor and hugs back, "I know mom" he whispers.

 ** _Stiles comes back to reality and sees his attacker is actually the cable-chewing chimera seen earlier on the hospital roof._**

"Oh god" Lydia whispered in horror

 ** _Scott, Theo, and Malia split up to find the others in the hospital. Scott is immediately attacked by The Pathologist and the scene from the beginning plays out again with the added detail of a tazer-like device in the doctor's glove that he uses to injure Scott. Theo arrives on the roof and attacks the chimera. As they fight, sparks fly from nearby wires and lights. Theo slashes the chimera's throat, killing him. He asks Stiles not to tell Scott. Theo says Stiles should keep the secret because Theo did not tell Scott about Stiles killing Donovan._**

"Oh you bastard. You fucking bastard son of a bitch" Scott growled and stood up ready to attack.


	76. 5-7

"Scott wait!" Allison shouted and tried to grab onto the boy. But she was too late, Scott had already pounced on Theo and was raging it out him through punches and slashes, his eyes glowing a bright yellow. His friends were trying to pull him back but were out matched by his superior strength.

"How did he transform?" Peter asked as he watched Theo get pummeled into the ground with great satisfaction. _"Oh I let him"_ Sky spoke up making Peter jump in his spot and scream like a little girl. "And pray tell why you did that?" Laura asked, rubbing her chest, even she was caught by surprise. _"I don't like Theo and it's better that Scott lets out his frustration rather than hold it in like he has been since he saw Theo with the dread doctors"_ Sky shrugged. "Well now would be a good time to stop him" Melissa screamed as she along with the others tried to pull Scott off a badly bleeding Theo. _"Oh not yet. Just a bit more *crack* now is a good time"_ Sky snapped his fingers and Scott stopped and slowly stood up, his eyes back to normal. "DO not ever try blackmailing my friends. Ever again" he said with a glare at a badly bleeding Theo who was twitching on the ground. "I think we should continue to watch now" Stiles said as he guided Scott back to his seat along with Allison. "Yeah I think so too. What about" Laura said and looked back at Sky only to see that he was gone. She sighed and went back to her seat. The rest went back into their seats while Theo laid unconscious on the floor, twitching and the next scene began.

 ** _In the moments after Theo kills the chimera on the hospital roof, he confronts Stiles about the death of Donovan at the school. Theo claims he was at the library to witness the end of the fight between Stiles and Donovan. He says he heard the scaffolding fall and saw the body. He then witnessed Stiles leave the school and the arrival of the police car but did not see who took the body._**

"First he sends that kid to get Stiles and then acts like he was there by chance. Crafty pup that one" Peter said.

 ** _Theo suggests they take Josh's body from the roof as a way to find out who is stealing the other chimera bodies. Theo says he killed Josh in self-defense because "he was going to kill you and me."_**

"And now he plays that card with him" Scott growled. Allison looked at her boyfriend with worry. Scott met her eyes and blinked slowly and gave a small smile, "no more wolfing out for now" he said in a promising manner. Allison nodded and leaned against him, completely understanding why he had done what he did.

 ** _He leaves the choice of taking the body or making up a story for the police to Stiles but says he doesn't want to ask him to lie to his father. Stiles says he's had plenty of practice lying to his dad._**

"Of course he does" Noah sighed.

 ** _Hayden leaves Sinema in a hurry after learning about werewolves and the Dread Doctors from Liam. He tries to show her he is sincere by flashing his werewolf face at her. She punches him in the nose and drives away._**

"Payback for 6th grade huh?" Mason smirked at Hayden who gave him a dirty look.

 ** _Later she stops the car to catch her breath. Her knuckles are bloodied from punching Liam but as she rubs them with her other hand, they heal. Her radio begins to speak in the voice of The Surgeon saying her "condition improves." Hayden's car sputters and dies. She tries frantically to get it started again but the engine won't turn over. In the distance she sees the Dread Doctors walking toward her._**

"Shit" Liam swore.

 ** _The locks on her car doors automatically engage. She unlocks them but they relock immediately. The radio, tuned to 91.5 FM, begins saying her name over and over. Her side-mirror cracks as does the windshield. Liam tears out her sunroof and grabs her out of the car. They run away from the Dread Doctors._**

"You didn't have to" Hayden said. "And let you get stabbed and filled with mercury? No thanks. I'd rather have you alive to argue with than dead" he said firmly making Hayden blink.

 ** _At the Vet Clinic, Stiles and Theo show Scott the body of the chimera from the hospital roof. Scott says his name was Josh and he was a junior. Scott assumes that one of the Dread Doctors killed him and Theo lies and agrees with him. Stiles changes the subject to what they should do with the body. They agree, since Tracy's body was stolen from the clinic that they should stand watch over Josh to see who comes to claim him. Theo agrees to stand watch saying "It's not like I had a big Saturday night planned."_**

Scott's eyes along with many other's narrowed, but none as dangerous as the young future alpha.

 ** _Scott gets a text informing him that they've identified another chimera. Scott and Stiles arrive at Scott's house to find Hayden has locked herself in the bathroom. Liam apparently brought her to the McCall House after their escape from the Dread Doctors on the road._**

"Scott's house is like the major hide out for us all it seems" Stiles mused.

 ** _Scott can hear her heartbeat and says she is freaked out. Stiles tries his luck getting her to open the door saying that her sister works with his dad and they just want to help. Scott says he's there to help but will break the door down if he has to. She opens the door, her eyes are glowing yellow. She has fangs and claws._**

"If nothing else convinced her that sure did" Corey mumbled.

 ** _Kira and her father carry two boxes into his classroom. She complains asking if "this was really necessary on a Saturday morning." He thanks her for her help. Ken leaves to fetch another box from the car. Kira hears the unsheathing of a sword and turns to find her mother attacking her._**

"What a way to greet your daughter" Melissa deadpanned.

 ** _Kira seems to have left her sword and Noshiko hands her one. They fight with her mother continually taunting her in Japanese, demanding to know "who are you" and "show yourself, kitsune." Kira's eyes blaze orange and she fights back harder. Her aura flares around her body and she strikes back at her mother, breaking her sword and leaving her defenseless. Noshiko falls to the floor and Kira rears back for the killing blow._**

"Hello to you too mother" Allison added to Melissa's comment in a joking manner.

 ** _Ken enters with an obsidian throwing star and slams it into the desk. This seems to snap Kira back to reality. Kira is angry saying she could have killed her mother. Noshiko says it's not Kira but "the fox inside" her._**

"Isn't it the same thing?" Hayden asks. "Not completely. The kitsune is a spirit which when grown too powerful can overpower its human host and take over completely and cause massive chaos" Talia explained. "Know it all" Peter mumbled.

 ** _In the library, Mason runs into Corey. He wants to know if Lucas told Mason anything about him or about what happened. Mason says no. He then notices that Corey was reading a book called "Miraculous Healing True Stories of Impossible Medical Cures." Scott has a map of the telluric currents running through Beacon Hills. His plan is to use the currents much in the same way Eichen House did to keep the Dread Doctors out. The school is also a focal point or "strongest convergence" besides Eichen House for the currents and he's decided to keep Hayden there as a means of protection. Hayden told her sister, Deputy Clark, she is staying at a friend's house. Clark is working a double shift. On her monitor there is a missing person poster for "Josh Diaz." It lists AGE: 17, RACE: HISPANIC and says he was last seen at Beacon Hills High School. Josh is the chimera killed by Theo. In addition to the natural protection, Lydia has Jordan Parrish take three cell phone jammers from the Sheriff's Station to help block the Dread Doctors' frequencies._**

"Good thinking but I don't think those would work. They had years to fine tune their powers and pretty sure they can overcome that" Peter pointed out. Lydia just shrugged.

 ** _Lydia is thinking of when Valack quoted Tesla about "frequency, vibration and believes the jammers might "disrupt their frequency." Scott says Kira should come to the school with them and bring her belt. She says she thinks she lost it again. She begs off coming to the school saying she doesn't want a repeat of what happened at Eichen House. Scott points out that she's at school every day without sparking the Eichen effect. She then explains that the doctors used her to get inside Eichen. She says she needs to figure out what is going on with her before she tries to help anyone else. They kiss and flashback to earlier scenes of their relationship. Scott admits to Kira that the plan isn't just to protect Hayden but to trap one of the Dread Doctors._**

"You plan on using her as bait" Liam said with a hint of anger in his voice. Scott looked at him, "There are four of us and one of them when we spring the trap. We can do this" Scott said with a smile. "And what if it doesn't work? What then!?" Liam asked. "It will work" Scott reassured him. Liam looked unsure but said nothing, it was after all the future. Even Scott had a bad feeling growing inside him but he decided not to pop it out and worry the others.

 ** _Theo is watching over Josh's body when The Surgeon shows up at the Vet Clinic. Theo asks if the doctor is checking up on him. He says he's sure the Doctors also want to know who is taking the bodies but The Surgeon says "Inconsequential." Theo is confused. He expects them to care that someone is running off with their failed science experiments. He wonders aloud if the doctors already know who is taking them. Theo is angry, saying that the Dread Doctors are supposed to be keeping him in the loop on everything. The Surgeon repeats "Inconsequential."_**

"Some partnership this is" Stiles snorted.

 ** _Theo hears Stiles Jeep pull up outside and the doctor is gone when he looks back. Stiles has realized that whoever is stealing the bodies won't come while they're standing guard. He rigs his cellphone camera to transmit and places it on top of the light box used view x-ray images. He attaches his watch to the rearview mirror in his jeep. The clinic interior is visible on the watch. Kira's mother taps acupuncture needles into her back. She explains that the balance of power inside Kira is in conflict, a struggle between the fox and the human. She thinks the acupuncture might shift the power back into Kira's hands. Kira is crying but says she is not in pain from the needles._**

"No I think the needles have a hand in that too" Allison pointed out.

 ** _Sheriff Stilinski has come up with a theory that the something in the chimeras' medical histories might link them in some way. He gets Melissa McCall to break the rules and open up the hospital's records to check. Lydia, Parrish and Malia arrive with the cell signal jammers and begin setting them up in different locations around the school. Lydia asks Scott if Liam is aware of the second part of the plan. Scott says he's still not sure there will be a second part or if it is going to work._**

"Just great!" Liam groans.

 ** _One of the Dread Doctors, seen only from behind, approaches one of the classrooms from outside the window. A part on the back of its hand glows white and a whine of static issues from the speakers in the classrooms and hallways of the school. Visually it seems to be using the school's electrical system to scan the area, finding Malia in the hallway and Parrish in the bus parking area out back. The radio in the deputies vehicle flashes on and off at 97.1 FM. Theo and Stiles are still outside the vet clinic. Theo asks if Stiles is wondering why he hasn't told Scott about the death of Donovan. He claims all he's ever wanted is for Scott and Stiles to trust him. Stiles doesn't believe him._**

"One of the things that bastard wants" Scott growled slightly then relaxed when Allison wrapped his arms around him.

 ** _Theo claims Stiles reminds him of his sister. He says she was smarter than everyone and a pain in the ass like Stiles but that she always looked out for her brother like Stiles looks out for Scott. He talks about how she got lost, fell in a creek, broke her leg, and died from exposure. Theo says he found the body. The authorities say she would have been fine if it hadn't been so cold that night. He says he should have known and should have been looking out for her, but, in flashback, we see what really happened. Tara, freezing in the creek, is calling out to young Theo but he just stands on the bridge above staring down at her._**

"Killed his own sister. He's a monster alright" Stiles glared at the screen.

 ** _Theo says even if Stiles doesn't like him, he will continue to look out for him._**

"By that he means he will keep on finding ways to blackmail him" Lydia grumbled.

 ** _The Sheriff added an info graphic poster of the moon's cycle to his bulletin board once he "realized just how much bigger the job had gotten." Melissa McCall points out that there is a full moon coming. Her gaze shifts to the mug shot of Donovan pinned to the board. She is skeptical that Donovan is still alive. The sheriff is skeptical too but wishes Donovan was still alive. Melissa points out that Donovan threatened to stab him but the Sheriff says Donovan was a victim of circumstance. He says the day Donovan's father was paralyzed; Donovan was in a motorcycle accident while trying to get to the hospital. His injuries required surgery for internal bleeding._**

"And Hayden had a transplant" Stiles mused.

 ** _Liam tries to make Hayden feel better by explaining that she will learn to control her werewolf abilities. Hayden is unconvinced saying that she wasn't bitten by a wolf and is somebody's "science experiment."_**

"When you put it like that" Mason sighed.

 ** _Liam says she's going to be fine and she says if he manages to get her out of this situation then she will forget about the incident when they were in 6_** ** _th_** ** _grade._**

Liam chuckled while Hayden giggled and the two looked at each other with no amount of animosity in their eyes.

 ** _Scott sees a bloodied dog lease being dragged down the hallway. He follows it._**

"Don't do that" Peter groans.

 ** _Lydia points out that, with the jammers in place, they can't use their cell phones to check on Theo and Stiles. Theo talks about Donovan's teeth indicating he was Wendigo. Stiles explains the native American myth that says if you ate human flesh you would develop an insatiable craving for it and turn wendigo. Theo says the myth is "judgmental" and he looks for justifications for cannibalism pointing out that it might be the only way to survive and bringing up The Donner Party. He says that famous case of cannibalism didn't result in wendigos but Stiles points out that they didn't live in Beacon Hills._**

"Boy makes a very good point" Rafael chuckled.

 ** _Stiles says he believes the punishment for killing Donovan will be the loss of his best friend._**

"You're not losing me so easily" Scott said with a grin, pushing his anger away for the moment. Stiles looked at his best friend with a smile on his face.

 ** _Noshiko and Ken enter Kira's bedroom to find she is missing. The acupuncture needles are now sticking into the headboard. They are aligned in numbers "1 1 5."_**

"Any ideas what that mean?" Allison asked her father who shook his head.

 ** _At the school, Hayden has fallen asleep on Liam's shoulder. He notices a black dufflebag and gets up to examine it. Inside he finds chains and asks Scott what they're for. Scott and Lydia explain that they hope to trap one of the Doctors. Liam says that makes Hayden the bait. Parrish sees a playing card, face down, on the floorboard of his SUV. He picks it up and flips it over showing the Queen of Diamonds. Suddenly he sees Lydia in the seat next to him. They rip off each other's shirts and begin making out. Flaming lines appear as she runs her fingers down his chest. When they break the kiss Lydia's skin is all charred and burned._**

"Ew ew ew" Lydia shuddered. "I think you still looked beautiful" Stiles joked only to get slapped on the arm.

 ** _Malia hears Parrish's SUV pull away and head down the hall to check on him. Suddenly, a steel-jaw trap with enormous spikes springs up from the floor and clamps on her leg. She falls backwards and another trap closes on her arm. She tries to scream but a spike plunges from the floor and impales her throat._**

"Uh that can't be real" Allison says, her voice shaking slightly. Malia looked at the screen hoping Allison was right.

 ** _The Dread Doctors enter and as they pass Malia there is no sign of the traps or the spike. She is lying on the floor struggling against nothing. She is hallucinating the devices and injuries._**

"Oh thank god" Peter let out a breath then met his sister's eyes which were looking at him in surprise with a questioning look in his own eyes.

 ** _The Sheriff and Melissa begin to piece together the fact that all the chimeras were given skin grafts or other tissue from other humans, Tracy and Donovan both had skin grafts, Lucas had corneal transplants, these "allogeneic" transplants meant the victims were already carrying two sets of human DNA prior to the Dread Doctors interference._**

"Chimera's even before they got made into one" Stiles and Lydia say at the same time then gape at each other.

 ** _Liam is angry. Lydia reiterates that they brought Hayden to the school to protect her but he still says she is bait. Scott says no one is bait but they can't bodyguard everyone every night. Liam questions Scott's wisdom saying they should be doing something more, something better, than hiding in a school. Scott defends his decision saying the Dread Doctors are winning and they don't know anything about them yet. Liam asks what they do if the jammers don't work or if Scott has another asthma attack. Scott says he doesn't know. Liam says the plan sucks and Scott gets angry. He says somebody has to save everyone and that means somebody has got to be the bait._**

"Oh bad wording kid" Noah sighed. "He is under pressure there" Allison points out with Stiles and Lydia agreeing with her.

 ** _Liam calms down and asks Scott to promise to do everything he can to save Hayden. Scott hesitates but says he'll do everything he can._**

"He can't keep it" Hayden whispered to herself and grabbed Liam hands tightly. Liam gave her hand a reassuring squeeze.

 ** _Hayden realizes that she doesn't have her anti-rejection meds and Scott offers to go to her locker to get them. In the hall, he sees the bloodied leash again and follows it into a classroom. Kira stabs him through the torso and wraps the leash around his throat choking. She says, in English, I am the messenger of death._**

"And now we have the messenger of death at our tails" Mason groaned.

 ** _Lydia goes looking for Scott and instead finds Tracy standing on the stairs. She says she needs Lydia's help but when they get close, Tracy rips out Lydia's tongue. Gouts of blood spew from her mouth as she falls down the stairs and lies, choking on her own blood, on the floor._**

Lydia gasped and shuddered violently at seeing her own possible death. Stiles rubbed her back gently as a way to comfort her.

 ** _The Dread Doctors step over Lydia. There is no blood. The exchange with Tracy and the injuries were hallucinations._**

"Oh yeah Tracy is dead" Stiles says and Lydia recovers slightly.

 ** _Still sitting in the Jeep, Theo is trying to convince Stiles that Donovan wasn't worth all the guilt Stiles is feeling. He says if Scott gave up on Stiles for killing Donovan then Scott wouldn't be a true Alpha. Stiles counters that True Alphas might, by their nature, not put up with murder. Theo says it was justifiable homicide. Theo points out that a werewolf's eyes are supposed to change color when they take the life of an innocent but his eyes didn't change after killing Josh. He flashes them yellow to prove the point. Stiles suggests that one might have to feel guilty about killing in order for the eye change to occur. Theo asks if Stiles felt bad when Donovan died. Stiles says he felt good. Theo seems pleased by this answer._**

"Only because he had survived. Everyone feels that when they survive and their predator dies." Scott points out.

 ** _Theo smells something burning. He is suddenly punched by a flaming fist through the window of the Jeep blood spatters all over Stiles just before Theo is ripped out of the vehicle._**

"Thank you Parrish" Stiles chuckled.

 ** _The back tires of the jeep lift off the ground as the vehicle is flipped over onto its top. Stiles sprawls unconscious. Parrish walks passed into the vet clinic. As he passes, the vehicle catches on fire._**

"Okay it isn't Parrish right now" Stiles says. "Probably the hell hound" Talia pointed out. "The what!?" Parrish choked out. "Hell hound. I'm sure it will be explained here and if not I'll explain later" Talia told him.

 ** _A few moments later Parrish emerges from the building carrying a body over his shoulder. At Sinema, Corey has been drinking. When Mason shows up he steps in as if to kiss him but Mason changes the subject to Corey's miraculously healed arm. Hayden and Liam hear the Dread Doctors coming. He calls out for Scott and Lydia but the door to the locker room opens and The Pathologist steps in. The Surgeon follows, knocks down one of the jammers and says "we're on a frequency you can't possibly imagine."_**

"Comforting thought" Lydia said drily.

 ** _Theo saves Stiles from the burning Jeep and informs him that the body is gone from the vet clinic. Kira continues to choke Scott until a small incision opens on his hand. Scott suddenly snaps out of his hallucination and Mason is standing before him holding a scalpel. Mason apologizes but says Liam told him that pain makes werewolves human. Scott is confused, he wants to know what happened and Mason explains that Corey is a chimera._**

"So that was a hallucination too" Scott mused.

 ** _Scott remembers Liam and Hayden. The two boys rush to the locker room. Lydia and Malia are already there but Liam and Hayden are gone. In the Dread Doctor's lair, Liam is lying on the floor with a black tube sticking into his arm._**

Hayden's grip on Liam's hand tightens.

 ** _Hayden is on an exam table. The Surgeon enters without a mask, the skin on the back of the head seems to be a mass of scars with white tuffs of thin hair._**

"Gross" Allison pulled a face.

 ** _They surround her and seem to be performing surgery on her back. Blood begins dripping on the floor as The Surgeon repeats her name "Hayden" over and over again._**

Liam gave Hayden's hand a tighter squeeze.

 ** _Melissa arrives home to find a girl impaled on the island in her kitchen. Kira's sword is sticking out of her chest and blood streams down and pools on the floor. The girl has flaming red hair and black-tipped fingers that end in needle-like claws. Melissa screams._**

"What a gift to come home to" Melissa said humorlessly.


	77. 5-8

_**Dr. Deaton**_ _ **and Vadim enter a fenced in area at a plant with radiation warning signs posted in Russian.**_

"And they still walk in like it's no big matter" Stiles shook his head.

 _ **Deaton comments that his companion doesn't believe the stories about radiation and the man says the location is not a nuclear plant.**_

"And now we know their reasoning" Scott comments on Stiles' previous comment.

 _ **Inside there is, also in Russian, saying "they come, they come for all of us." The story told about the place includes men with masks that they never take off and myths about them having no faces. They use the ouroboros as their symbol. Deaton finds a door with the symbol and inside they find a laboratory with several skulls and a fetus in a jar. There is also a very large tooth. Deaton explains that they are failed experiments, some performed in utero.**_

"That's just inhumane" Lydia shuddered. "Lyds, I don't think those dread doctors cared if this was humane or not. These are all monster making experiments after all" Stiles said with a sigh, looking back at the strawberry blonde.

 _ **Deaton decides they should flee but his companion is shot. The**_ _ **Desert Wolf**_ _ **appears and tells Deaton not to move.**_

"Of course she would be in a creepy place like that" Peter comments while Malia growled.

 _ **Scott**_ _ **runs through the woods. He stops on the edge of a cliff and howls.**_ _ **Malia**_ _ **catches up and Scott says there is no scent, no way to track**_ _ **Liam**_ _ **and**_ _ **Hayden**_ _ **. Malia points out that Liam can howl back. Scott says he can only if he heard.**_ _ **Melissa McCall**_ _ **has called**_ _ **Sheriff Stilinski**_ _ **to deal with the dead body in her kitchen. She asks him to leave his badge outside meaning he needs to deal with this as her friend and not the sheriff. He hesitates but decides to do as she asks. Once inside, the Sheriff asks if anyone has seen**_ _ **Kira Yukimura**_ _ **. Melissa ponders if the murder might be some sort of message to Scott. The Sheriff radios dispatch and says they have a 187 (Homicide) at 821 Williamson Road. Melissa slaps him hard across the face.**_

"Hey! No! I told you! Badge outside" Melissa met Noah's glare head on. Claudia looked between the two and shook her head with a sigh.

 _ **Melissa says he knows Kira isn't responsible. He says it is a murder and is his responsibility to handle it within the parameters of the law. She says their kids are always dealing with things outside the law. He counters that they are not above the law.**_

"No but human laws were not created keeping the supernatural in mind now were they?" Peter asked. Noah turned his glare to the V-neck wearing man, "They might not have been but they do apply to them as well" he grounded out. "Oh yeah? Then tell me this sheriff, when you are tailing a suspected supernatural creature and bring in your back up who are ill equipped to deal with that creature, how much blood would do you think it would spill while the creature would merely break a sweat if it was someone like Kate Argent?" Peter retorted. "Alright that's enough" Chris stood up just when Noah was about to reply. "This argument can go on for years and no one would come to any solid conclusion. Let's just watch this and then decide on how we act" he said calmly and both parties grudgingly agreed to it. Chris sat down and watched in silence, his own opinion being on the same line as Peter's.

 _ **Kira is walking down the middle of Highway 115.**_ _ **Deputy Clark**_ _ **finds her and talks her into getting into her patrol car. Kira says she came out to the road to remember something. Clark handcuffs her and radios in that she has the suspect.**_

"I'm pretty sure if Kira foxes out right now, deputy is gonna get impaled" Peter says pushing his previous point. Talia slapped him on the back of his head, "Shut up" she says with her signature 'Alpha Glare'. Peter grumbles but stays down while Noah was put into a line of deep thought.

 _ **Theo turns Stiles' Jeep right-side-up outside the vet clinic. They hear over the scanner that Kira is under arrest. At the**_ _ **Dread Doctors**_ _ **' lair Liam is still on the floor. A device is attached to his arm with a thick tube running into his skin. Hayden is face down on an operating table as the doctors work around her. An alarm sounds and**_ _ **The Pathologist**_ _ **walks to a large liquid-filled cylinder with a body inside, takes a syringe and removes some of the liquid.**_

"Oh god what is that!?" Hayden gasped. "That would be a were something that was an alpha" Theo answered making many jump in surprise not noticing him coming back to consciousness. "The doctors never tell you who exactly that is?" Stiles asks with a smirk remembering the little face-off between one of the doctors and Theo from the previous memory. Theo squirms slightly in his seat, "I never asked" he grounds put after a moment.

 _ **At the examine table**_ _ **The Geneticist**_ _ **uses an ultraviolet light to examine Hayden's skin. A scale-like pattern glows blue under the light. The Surgeon says "her condition worsens." Liam screams at them to leave her alone and wolfs out. The Pathologist kicks him in the head.**_

"Ouch" Mason says as Liam winces. Hayden looks at Liam closely for a long while. "Uh Hayden, you're being creepy" Liam says. Hayden blinks out of her thought and huffs. "Guess he has changed, or will change" she thought to herself. Unnoticed by the two, their hands were still interlocked with one another's.

 _ **Deputy Parrish**_ _ **, covered in soot, is taking a shower when his phone rings. He wraps a towel around his waist and answers it. He says it's 4 in the morning but is told that the sheriff has called everyone in because of the latest murder.**_

"Nice bod" Laura winked at a blushing Parish. "Wait you just washed off like a layer of soot form your body and you still didn't wonder where it all came from?" Stiles asked. Parish looked at Stiles his blush now gone, "It hasn't happened to me yet so I can't really tell you anything but I think that I am in some kind of trance when that happens and I snapped out when the phone rang" he explained. Stiles shrugged, the theory made sense to him.

 _ **Kira sits, cuffed to a chair, at the Sheriff's Station, her bloody sword is on the desk in front of her. The sheriff orders the cuffs removed saying if Kira was involved it was self-defense.**_ _ **Ken Yukimura**_ _ **arrives and claims the sword is his. Kira protests. Mr. Yukimura claims he was attacked at home and grabbed a replica sword from his collection and defended himself. The sheriff wonders aloud how the body ended up at McCall's house.**_ _ **Noshiko Yukimura**_ _ **says the girl apparently wasn't' completely dead and somehow made her way over there. The sheriff asks if they're really going with that story. Noshiko asks if he is prepared to tell a different story.**_

"She got you there dad" Stiles said with a small chuckle. Noah sighed internally and thought more on how he needed to change his methods involving the supernatural.

 _ **The Pathologist dumps Hayden on the floor near Liam and the liquid-filled cylinder. He crawls to her. She has a black goo covered wound on her abdomen. He grabs her hand to try to take away her pain. It doesn't work.**_

"Thanks for trying" Hayden says softly. Liam looks at her and softly bumps their shoulders together. "No need to thank me" he said with a smile.

 _ **Scott and Kira discuss the fact that her dad confessed to murder and will likely be arrested. Kira says she remembers nothing of the night except waking up in the road. Scott says he has to go find Hayden and Liam but that he would stay with her otherwise. Kira asks Scott if he thinks she killed the girl and he claims he does not. Scott storms into his house and goes straight upstairs to where Mason and Lydia are coaching**_ _ **Corey**_ _ **through**_ _ **Dread Doctors Novel**_ _ **. He says he's having a hard time getting through it and Scott says they don't have time for it. He inserts his claws into the back of Corey's neck to extract his memories.**_

"You don't just do that!" the outbursts made Scott jump, mainly because Derek was the one to shout it. "You even realize how dangerous that could be for him if something goes wrong!?" Derek growled. "He didn't have a choice. He doesn't have much time to save Liam and Hayden" Stiles defended his best friend while Scott gaped, not being able to form words on his defense. "That does not make it any less dangerous!" Derek growled. "Okay we'll teach the boy later. For now let's see if he did any damage" Peter said making his nephew sit who was still growling. Regaining his composure, Scott turned to Corey with an apologetic look, "I'm sorry I did that" he said. Corey waved his hand, "It's in the future to nothing to forgive. Just don't try that without precautions" he said with a nervous chuckle.

 _ **Hayden tries to help Liam removing the large tube from inside his arm. Black liquid pours from the tip once it is removed. The Pathologist shows up and injects Hayden in the neck. While the Geneticist aims a needle at Liam's forehead.**_

"That does not look good" Mason mumbled.

 _ **Melissa has turned in her official witness statement about finding the body. The Sheriff is incredulous that she told the truth describing the body as a "monstrous chimera" and going into detail about**_ _ **Werewolves**_ _ **,**_ _ **Banshee**_ _ **and**_ _ **Kanima**_ _ **. She says she forgot about the Dread Doctors and takes the statement back and sits at his desk to write.**_

"If we are to honestly say what we saw, might as well add in every detail we know. To help the authorities capture these vibrating doctors of course" Melissa said leveling a challenging glare at Noah who sighed again.

 _ **Deputy Clark rushes in with details of the 911 call from the School Library. She's run the key cards of the students who accessed the library that night and found Stiles and**_ _ **Theo Raeken**_ _ **were there. The Sheriff says he will deal with it saying he will no longer bend the rules for anyone. Melissa says "Maybe you should learn to bend a little before someone breaks."**_

"Take her advice Noah. These supernatural things don't just bend, they twist around you like snakes. You have to bend slightly to meet them head on" Chris advised. Noah looked at the hunter and just nodded.

 _ **Theo, Stiles, and Malia join Lydia and Mason upstairs at the McCall House as Scott taps into Corey's memories. In Corey's mind, Scott sees the Dread Doctors dragging him through the hospital. They are then underground with pipes running along the walls. Then he sees the Dread Doctor's lair. Scott breaks contact and quickly sketches out the entrance to the lair in a notebook. Stiles and Lydia recognize the drawing as the Water Treatment plant. Stiles says he used to skateboard there until his dad caught him and told him never to go back.**_

"I never got to know why he told me not to go down there" Stiles thought out loud. "Maybe because the place is dangerous" Noah said with a glare which made Stiles chuckle and shrink into his seat.

 _ **Hayden and Liam awake in a different part of the lair. There is a doorway blocked by chain link fencing. Liam grabs the fence and gets a shock. There is another teen in the room. He says his name is "**_ _ **Zach**_ _ **". He says he is an experiment just like them. He asks them to look at his back because the "guys in the masks" removed something but they left part of it behind because he can feel it. When he lifts up his shirt there are bloody stumps sticking out of his shoulder blades. They twitch back and forth like hummingbird wings.**_

"Never thought I'd see a fairy in real. I always thought they were smaller in size Stiles said. Lydia sighed and hit him on the head, "not the time" she said with a slight glare when Stiles looked at her.

 _ **Stiles is urging caution as Scott heads out to find Liam and Hayden. Stiles says Mason shouldn't go because he doesn't have any "wolf powers." Scott says he could use the help since Stiles isn't coming. Stiles says he has to help his dad because they're going to try to make sure no one takes the body this time. Malia suggests they take Theo but he says he should stay with Corey in case the Dread Doctors come back.**_

"Yeah so you can hand me over to them yourselves? No thanks" Corey said with a glare to Theo who chose not to answer.

 _ **Lydia wants Scott to slow down. She points out that he could have really hurt Corey with the memory thing. Scott ignores her saying he has to find Liam. Stiles ask that they text him for anything. Malia says she's got it. She, Scott, and Mason leave the house. Corey, Lydia, Stiles and Theo remain behind. The Sheriff is moving the body through**_ _ **Beacon Hills Memorial Hospital**_ _ **with two deputies on either side. All are armed with shotguns. Deputy Clark takes up a position in front of the entrance to the morgue. The body is placed inside one of the cooler drawers and closed in. Deputy Parrish is assigned to stand guard in front of the cooler.**_

"Isn't that a wonderful idea. Let's hope the deputy can hold the thing back…oh wait! Isn't he the thing" Peter chuckled. "The dude needs some serious help" Stiles said. "You have no idea" Laura sighed.

 _ **Liam tries the gate again and gets another shock. Zach laughs and says they're never getting out. Hayden scolds him and says he could try to be optimistic. Zack says it's hard to be when you watch three other people get dragged out screaming. Zack says the doctors said the others were failures. Zack then describes his experience. "First you forget. You don't know who you are or what you're doing. Then you get violent. I watched two of them almost kill each other." He says one of the others had a nasty looking cut just like the one in Hayden's side. It is still covered in the black goo which Zack says is okay. He says it's not really over until you start bleeding other stuff or it starts turning silver. The mercury is a sign that you're "really a failure." Liam wonders how many more failures there will be. Zack wonders what a success would look like. They wonder what they're turning into.**_

"Something from your worst nightmare" Theo muttered. "So you do know what the end result is" Stiles looked at Theo with narrowed eyes. Theo shrugged, "I have a general idea of it".

 _ **Scott, Mason and Malia arrive at the water treatment plant and begin descending into the pipe-lined tunnels below. Malia calls out for Liam. Scott says there are too many chemicals in use for him to catch a scent. At the hospital, Stiles is on the phone with his mechanic who claims his jeep spontaneously combusted when it flipped. The mechanic says the gas tank didn't rupture and nothing electrical was burned.**_

"Not spontaneous combustion. It was hell hound fire" Peter said making a dramatic action with his hands. "He really needs some help" Stiles muttered.

 _ **Sheriff Stilinski takes Stiles' phone and demands to know what he's doing at the hospital. Stiles tries to convince his father to leave the body and let whoever is taking them come for it. The Sheriff demands that Stiles go home but he refuses. Stilinski catches a glimpse of one of the Doctor's ID badges as he is boarding the elevator, "Dr. M. Langford, Attending Physician" and it reminds him that Stiles school ID was scanned in at the library the night of the 911 prank call. He tells Stiles about what Deputy Clark found out and asks if all students have afterhours access. Stiles says they do. He then lies and says he lost his keycard "a couple weeks ago."**_

"Just tell him the truth son. He could be able to help" Claudia said softly. "Or put me in jail which he most likely would have" Stiles muttered. "I wouldn't have, even if there was enough evidence out there" Noah said softly, slightly hurt by what his son had thought of him. Stiles looked at his father, "I was afraid. Not because of the jail thing. I was afraid what you would think of me I guess. At least future me and this me fear the same things so I can say for sure" Stiles explained.

 _ **Kira is still trying to read the Dread Doctors novel but is still having trouble focusing on it. She throws the book across the room as her mother enters. Kira says she is the only one who hasn't finished reading it. Noshiko says if the language is confusing the fox then Kira should stop trying to understand it.**_

 _ **Two pages of the book are seen briefly during this scene.**_

 _ **The Dread Doctors by T.R. McCammon**_

 _ **Stielhandgranate**_ _ **at the Pathologist,**_

" _ **Catch!"**_

 _ **Aaron jumped to his feet and charged after Judy. The Stielhandgranate sailed wide and landed behind the Pathologist.**_

 _ **The explosion tore the the catwalk away in a fiery cloud. Metal buckled, several support struts falling away. Aaron and Judy collapsed on the metal grating.**_

" _ **Are you okay?" Judy asked her friend.**_

" _ **I think…" Aaron trailed off as a keening filled the air. Looking back, Judy and Aaron watched as the final support struts cracked.**_

" _ **Uh, Oh," Judy, murmured just before the support struts shattered and the catwalk gave away beneath them. Judy gripped Aaron's arm as the catwalk swung down.**_

 _ **Next Page**_

 _ **and gave it a sickening twist. He legs stopped kicking and hung loosely beneath him.**_

 _ **With a sob in her throat, Judy watched the Surgeon toss Aaron off the catwalk and into the dark water below. Then, the Surgeon's bright eyes fell on her. Judy recoiled, her hand falling on the large rusted wrench.**_

 _ **Leaning forward, the Surgeon raised a gloved hand, but Judy struck out with the wrench. The large took cracked against the side of the Surgeon's mask. He stumbled back and Judy struck him again and again.**_

 _ **Falling backwards, the Surgeon collapsed into the elevator. The wire-walled box creaked and groaned after years of neglect and exposure to the elements. The cable holding the elevator box in place vibrated under…**_

 _ **Noshiko recommends that Kira read the book backwards. Back in the lair, Zack's nose begins to drip silver and The Pathologist comes and drags him out. Liam tries to get up to help but is held in place by some unseen force and is unable to rise. Scott, Malia and Mason rush back and forth through the tunnels but have no luck. Scott hears a buzzing sound and begins to track it.**_

"Finally some clues" Scott sighs.

 _ **Corey's neck has healed. He's pissed and wants to leave but Theo recommends that he stay. He then explains that Lydia is a Banshee and can sense when someone is close to death. He then asks her what happens is Corey leaves. Lydia lies and says "it's bad, very bad." Corey says he'll take his chances and heads for the door.**_

Scott sighs. He really messed it up with Corey.

 _ **Theo believes he must remember more about where the Dread Doctors held him. Corey says it was the hospital, then the tunnels and that's it. Theo presses for more and Corey relents admitting that he remembers he was in a basement of an old house and there was a wall with a big hole in it "like a bomb went off." Theo remembers Parrish's account of the Belasko attack and Lydia says it was exactly the same. Kira manages to read the book backwards and begins to remember. She was sitting in the traffic jam on Highway 115 with her parents when the Dread Doctors took her from the car, threw her on the hood and then stuck a device into her eye. Lightening seems to strike the device for a moment and Kira opens her mouth to scream and light pours out.**_

"Shouldn't she be dead?" Corey points out. "Kitsune with lightning powers. Lightning doesn't affect her" Talia explained.

 _ **Stiles sit's in the waiting room at the hospital holding his School ID. The words SENIOR and "M. STILINSKI" are visible along with a picture of Stiles. He holds it for a moment before dropping it into the trashcan. The sheriff and his men are standing guard over the body. It is apparently hot. The sheriff asks Deputy Clark to check on the air conditioning but as she is heading away the pipes in the ceiling begin to groan. The sheriff notices that water is beading up on the sprinkler head in the ceiling and manages to pull a deputy clear just before the device explodes in a stream of super-heated steam. The other sprinkler heads follow suit and the hallway is filled with thick hot steam. A soot blackened figure begins taking out the deputies one by one as the steam continues to pour down.**_

"That was kinda cool. Like some kick ass vigilante taking down villains" Stiles says. "Only this time it's a hell hound who is taking the police out" Lydia points out.

 _ **Scott, Mason and Malia are still running around in circles. Scott begins to have an asthma attack and then begins to blame himself for all that's happened. Mason says they just need to keep looking and offers his hand to Scott. They continue on down the tunnel right past the Ouroboros symbol on the tunnel wall.**_

"How do you guys not notice that!?" Stiles said in exasperation. "I'll fill you in once that happens to me" Scott deadpanned.

 _ **Liam and Hayden hear the doctors returning. They stand and hold hands. Instead Theo rushes in and right into the electrified fence. Once he comes around, he grabs the gate with both hands, the electricity courses around his body but he manages to force the gate open in a shower of sparks. At the hospital, Parrish seems dazed as he tells the Sheriff that he saw the suspect. Stiles shouts to his father from down the hall and Parrish says "Go get your son sheriff," in an emotionless monotone. Stiles comes around the corner and they both enter the morgue to find the body is gone. Theo drives Hayden and Liam away from the lair. Hayden's wound is not healing and she says that means she is a failure. Liam kisses her and takes her pain away. Liam says he doesn't know how he did it.**_

"It only works when you really care for others" Derek explained to the blushing teens.

 _ **Theo watches them kiss in the rearview mirror.**_

"Creep" Lydia said to herself.

 _ **Scott returns home. Liam and Hayden are on the couch. Scott hugs Theo for a long time.**_

"Aww isn't that sweet" Stiles cooed. "Shut it lanky" Liam growled, his cheeks still slightly red.

 _ **Later, Kira explains her recovered memory to Scott and says she has to leave Beacon Hills to "fix it." She also says, without a body, the Sheriff had to let her father go. Scott doesn't want Kira to leave but she says she doesn't want to hurt anyone. Scott says she won't but she asks him to look at her with his "other eyes." He does and sees her aura. It's pouring rain as the Yukimura's load into their car. Scott and Kira kiss goodbye. As the car pulls away all the streetlights explode into sparks.**_

"What a way to say goodbye" Stiles mumbled.

 _ **Melissa McCall finds Scott sitting on the floor of his room. He explains that something has changed between him and his friends and he believes he is to blame. He says he doesn't know how to fix it.**_

"You will" Allison said looking rightat Scott. "I know you will" she smiled and hugged him tightly.

 _ **Stiles has Parrish's nametag and shows it to Lydia saying Parrish is the one taking the bodies. Lydia says she thinks she knows where he's taking them. Parrish approaches the**_ _ **Nemeton**_ _ **with the latest , bruised and battered, is tied to a chair in the Dread Doctors old lair. The Desert Wolf is asking about Malia saying she heard a rumor that her daughter was still alive. Deaton says he knows nothing about a daughter. She says she hopes Deaton is telling the truth because if her daughter is still alive then she's going to have to kill her again.**_

"I'd like to see you try" Malia snarled and gripped the arms of her chair, a little bit of fear making its way into her heart.


	78. 5-9

_**In a conversation with**_ _ **Theo**_ _ **,**_ _ **Scott**_ _ **explains that five days have passed since the events of**_ _ **Ouroboros**_ _ **and that his reliance on his inhaler has increased. A feeling of dread and foreboding seems to permeate the halls of school and everyone can sense something is coming. There is a separation between the**_ _ **members of the pack**_ _ **as well. Scott says they are not talking to each other and sometimes don't even notice each other.**_

"That is not good news" Peter frowned. For all his crazy talk and love for things to go wrong for the McCall pack purely for entertainment purposes, he was quite serious this time. Something his family noticed. "Guess he realizes how dangerous this thing is" Laura whispered to Derek. "He would be an idiot not to notice and Peter is many things but an idiot" Derek whispered back.

 _ **Scott senses that not talking makes it easier to keep secrets. We see Malia with pictures from her investigation of the**_ _ **Desert Wolf**_ _ **. Scott says he doesn't know if his friends are lying about things or if it's more "lies of omission" as we see a shot of the wound on**_ _ **Stiles'**_ _ **shoulder from**_ _ **Donovan**_ _ **'s "hand mouth". Scott believes the worst lie is to**_ _ **Sheriff Stilinski**_ _ **because they've yet to tell him about**_ _ **Parrish**_ _ **taking the chimera bodies. They've also not told Parrish.**_

"Yeah I feel like we should tell them" Scott says to Stiles like they were in the midst of plotting something. "Maybe we should only tell Parrish. Dad might put him in jail" Stiles whispered back making Noah roll his eyes, "ha ha very funny" Noah grumbled.

 _ **The Deputy is given a new name tag with "TRY NOT TO LOSE THIS ONE" written on the envelope. Scott explains that Parrish doesn't seem to remember taking the bodies and they believe he is only dangerous if someone tries to get in his way.**_

"That's one good thing out of many bad ones" Mason sighed. "Is it a good thing though? Are we not already in his way in a way?" Corey said with a smirk. "Shut up Bryant" Mason rolled his eyes.

 _ **Lydia and Stiles are trying to find the Nemeton and the chimera bodies they believe Parrish dumped there but Scott says finding the tree stump isn't easy. He relates the story of the "surrogate sacrifices" they used to find the Nemeton when the**_ _ **Darach**_ _ **took their parents. Scott explains that the Sheriff has tasked all his deputies to track down and question every potential chimera going off a list of those who had transplants or had, in some other way, become genetic chimeras through conventional means.**_

"That's a very dangerous move there sheriff" Parrish pointed out. "Yeah. If they turn out to be like Tracy or Donovan, you're gonna have dead deputies in your lawn" Peter said lazily. "I know" Noah sighed.

 _ **Deputy Clark**_ _ **has a clipboard with a "Dissociative Experiences Questionnaire" attached. Some of the questions visible are:**_

 _ **Have you experienced fugue states or incidents of missing time?**_

 _ **During the past month, have you had any reason to wonder if you were losing your mind or losing control over the way you act, talk, think, feel, or of your memory?**_

 _ **How much of the time, during the past month, have you been a very nervous person?**_

 _ **During the past month, have you been in firm control of your behavior, thoughts, emotions or feelings?**_

 _ **Scott says some of the deputies believe they are hunting a serial killer.**_

"The dread doctors are serial killers if you think about it. Kidnap, experiment, kill the failures. That's their method" Stiles shrugged. "I wonder how many kids they kill this time around because that three eyed doctor was sure they did all this before" Lydia added.

 _ **Deputy Clark sees her sister**_ _ **Hayden**_ _ **'s name on the list of those to be questioned. The other names visible include Rusty Andrews, Tom Owens and Chris Cook. Scott says both Hayden and**_ _ **Corey**_ _ **are doing okay, healing fast and getting stronger. The cut in Hayden's side has healed. Scott says "they don't need our help." He says he doesn't believe they want his help anyway.**_

"Hayden I'm sure has Liam hovering behind her like some shadow. Corey won't trust Scott after the whole claw injection thing I guess" Allison spoke. Scott sighed, "yeah you're probably right".

 _ **He still hasn't heard from Kira. Scott has placed a "Closed Until Further Notice" sign in the window of the**_ _ **Beacon Hills Animal Clinic**_ _ **and says he is getting more and more worried about Deaton. At the clinic, holding his inhaler, Scott tells Theo that he knows something is coming. He wonders how good he will be when it comes if can't even breathe.**_

"Why is he even having trouble breathing in the first place? Shouldn't his werewolf healing take care of it?" Allison asked. "The thing about an alpha is that the pack is his source of power. The closer they are together the stronger he is. But if the pack is divided and on not so good terms like you lot are there, it directly affects the alpha" Talia explained and that made the pack members squirm slightly. "It's none of your fault. We all have our own issues that we prefer to work alone on. And it's not like we are used ot the whole pack thing yet" Scott defended.

 _ **Theo says Scott sounds like he is apologizing and Scott says he knows Theo was looking for a pack and he's just sorry that he found him. Scott asks Theo if he still wants to be part of the pack. Theo says he's with them for better or worse and Scott says it's going to get worse to which Theo says, "I'm counting on it."**_

"I'm sure he is" Stiles grumbled while Lydia patted his arm. He went back to sit beside Lydia thinking his father needed to be with his mother right now. Plus he didn't want to be near his father in case he blew up.

 _ **The Geneticist**_ _ **, with a syringe, withdraws fluid from the large, body-holding, tank in their lair. The dead body of a teenage boy lies on the examination table with a spike stuck through its back. The Geneticist walks over and injects the liquid from the syringe into**_ _ **The Surgeon**_ _ **'s arm. The arm, which seems "frankensteined" from more than one body, is scarred and withered. After the injection, the flesh begins to plump up immediately and is soon restored to full vitality.**_

"How did he do that?" Hayden asked in confusion. "Cells from that well preserved werewolf. It helps in accelerating healing of wounds and it's also probably their secret to a long life" Theo shrugged.

 _ **Theo tells them that he needs more time. They say "Perigee syzygy." "The "supermoon." "We'll know at Perigee syzygy." The Surgeon is looking at four charts on a light box. They each show the moon or the phases of the moon. Theo says he needs Hayden alive but the doctor says she is a failure and "Failure compromises the experiment pool."**_

"Need me alive? For what do you need me alive?" Hayden asked through narrowed eyes. "How should I know? That is the future" Theo said out loud. Internally though he had an idea and was sure of it.

 _ **Theo is angry. He says he's kept Scott out of their way and that they promised him a pack. The doctor says they promised him nothing. He yells at them that he needs Hayden alive and they all turn on him. He takes a step back and they agree to allow Hayden to live until the "perigee syzygy."**_

"So that's what you need me for. And how are you keeping Scott out of their way?" Hayden questioned. "By creating a division in the pack from blackmailing me to sliding his way into Malia's as well as most of our minds by being the guy who is always there to help" Stiles said in an out of character cold tone.

 _ **The Surgeon retrieves the spike cane from the body on the table and re-sheaths it with a snap. The handle of the cane is a hammer. Stilinski and Deputy Parrish examine the house where Hayden and Liam were held captive. Parrish says it doesn't look like an operating theater and speculates that it might be a "remote field station." As he shines his flashlight over the mercury liquid splashed over the floor and walls he decides to equip every deputy with an ultraviolet light to try to identify the chimeras. Liam and Hayden share a moment alone between the busses in the parking lot at school.**_

"Gee isn't that romantic" Laura teases making the teens in question blush.

 _ **He's checking on her after every period to make sure she is safe. She says the**_ _ **Dread Doctors**_ _ **only come out after dark and believes she will be safe at school. She tells him that he doesn't have to check on her but he says he wants to and proceeds to kiss her. After a bit of kissing, they break and Liam has a trace of mercury on his lip. Hayden's nose is bleeding silver. She says Liam can't tell anyone.**_

"I think you should tell anyone…I mean someone. You need to get that thing out of your system" Mason said. "And how exactly can that be done?" Hayden asked with a slight glare, knowing full well why she wants the thing kept hidden. "Dialysis? I don't know! But there has to be a way!" Mason argued.

 _ **In the**_ _ **Beacon Hills Preserve**_ _ **, Stiles and Lydia are going around in circles. They believe the Nemeton "doesn't want to be found." Lydia wants to go get Parrish to help them since he's the one who takes the bodies there. Stiles doesn't want to do that. He says because Lydia is a**_ _ **Banshee**_ _ **she should be able to find the bodies but Lydia says "The Banshee is having an off day."**_

"Having an off day? Wow must be a good day for me then" Lydia giggles.

 _ **He almost tells Lydia about Donovan but stops short.**_

"You should have told me" she whispered. "And risk you looking at me like I'm some kind of monster?" Stiles whispers back. Lydia looks at Stiles for quite some time, looking as if she was having an internal discussion. After a moment, she leaned forward and kissed him gently. "I would never look at you like that" she said after they broke apart with a small smile and a slight blush on her cheeks, something matched by Stiles' blush.

 _ **Lydia leaves to go find Parrish and tell him that he's the one taking the bodies because "It's always better when they know." Scott is having an asthma attack in the locker room. He takes a hit off his inhaler. As all the students leave he hears a single, elevated, heartbeat remaining. He rounds the corner to find Liam stuffing bottles of water and protein bars into a big red duffel bag. Scott reminds him that it is a full moon, a supermoon, tomorrow and says Liam is probably already feeling the effects. Liam snaps at him and Scott backs off a little. He says he's there for Liam if he needs him and Liam snaps at him again, wondering if he plans to chain him to a tree again. Scott says he just meant they should stick together so they can protect each other. Liam says "We can't protect anyone."**_

"Okay that was uncalled for" Allison glared at the boy. "It's okay Allison" Scott said with a weak smile and patted her arm. Allison maintained her glare at Liam making him squirm slightly before she looked away.

 _ **Stiles and Theo discuss the Nemeton in the school library. Stiles explains that Parrish dreams that he takes the bodies to the tree stump. Theo points out that if Lydia finds the Nemeton she'll also find Donovan. Stiles points out that she'll also find**_ _ **Josh**_ _ **. Theo says maybe they should come clean. He claims he believes Scott is different now and will understand they had no choice but to kill in self-defense.**_

"Listen to the untrustworthy one….I can't believe I just said that" Claudia rubbed her face.

 _ **Stiles imagines he sees himself impaled on a steel rod in the middle of the library.**_

"Not what we wanted to see" Noah mumbled holding his stiff wife.

 _ **Corey accidentally breaks the combination lock off his locker.**_ _ **Mason**_ _ **witnesses this and points out how much stronger he's getting. They decide to test his limits in the weight room by bench pressing more than 360 pounds.**_

"Pfft I did more" Peter boats. "That's because you have more muscle than Corey. Trying to compensate for something dear uncle" Laura smirked making Peter gape and the others chuckled slightly.

 _ **Corey wonders if he might be the Dread Doctors "success." Mason says he doesn't know but Scott might. Corey doesn't want to be around Scott after the Alpha invaded his memories. Mason tries to convince him that Scott is trying to help. A student named "S. Fitch" uses her student key card to access the library. The Sheriff slides in behind her before the door closes. He turns on his UV light and begins to sweep the floor. He finds a large stain of what appears to be mercury glowing. Small dark clouds evaporate off but are only visible under the special light. He remembers what deputy Clark said about Theo Raeken and Stiles using their key cards on the night they got a prank 911 call from the library. He also remembers how suspicious Stiles was of Theo. The sheriff told him at the time that if someone is really guilty all you have to is wait because they'll eventually make a mistake.**_

"Oh he is guilty alright. Just not as directly as we would have liked" Stiles sighed.

 _ **In class, Theo says he needs to talk to Scott about something important about Stiles. He is interrupted when Scott hears ambulances approaching the school. They rush out to see Corey, covered in mercury blood, being loaded into an ambulance. The boy shouts "Don't let them kill me!" Mason stands nearby also covered in the mercury blood. Theo urges Scott to do something and, after a moment's hesitation, Scott jumps into action. Liam and Hayden meet up in the hall. She already knows the commotion must be Corey. Hayden says it means she's next. She and Liam run.**_

"How would running help stop you from bleeding mercury? If anything that should make it worse" Laura groans. Hayden shrugs and looks at Liam who shrugs back.

 _ **During the drive to the hospital, Theo makes up a lie about how Donovan died. He claims Stiles beat the boy's head to a bloodied pulp with a wrench, which Theo has in his glove compartment.**_

"Oh you're so dead Raeken" Scott, Noah, Allison, Lydia all say at the same time making Theo actually feel a bit of fear.

 _ **He claims he got there too late to stop Stiles from killing the boy. He tells the truth about Donovan attacking Stiles and the wound on his shoulder but makes it sound like "self-defense" would just be an excuse Stiles would use for a wanton act of willful violence.**_

Stiles clenches his hands into fists.

 _ **Natalie Martin**_ _ **is teaching about Anthrax and it's use by Germany during World War I.**_ _ **Malia Tate**_ _ **is distracted by the sound of someone chewing and notices a student named**_ _ **Beth**_ _ **chewing her fingernail. She has her laptop open and is looking at a graphic of the Perigee-syzygy. Mrs. Martin tells her to close her computer and Beth complies but notices that the nail she's been chewing has come off and a trail of mercury blood is seeping from the ruined nail bed.**_

"What is this? Chimera Market? Where are all these Chimera's popping out from?" Peter groaned.

 _ **She runs out of class. Malia moves to follow but Martin blocks her way. The exchange the two have is about Malia's recent drop in grades but it becomes clear that Martin is aware of the supernatural. Malia realizes this and flashes her glowing eyes. Martin is unimpressed and says "I think you need to focus more on your school work, all of you." Parrish and Lydia are driving through the preserve looking for the Nemeton. Parrish claims that he has no idea where he's going but makes a right turn as if he has a destination in mind.**_

"Guess your little buddy is guiding you. And before any smartass says anything, I mean his hell hound side" Peter said, landing an accusatory narrow eyed stare at his niece who was smiling innocently.

 _ **Malia follows Beth into the hall and offers to help but the girl freaks out. She starts repeating the words "my condition" over and over. Malia steps closer and Beth throws her across the hall and into a locker. Malia, annoyed, gets up to follow again but as she rounds the corner of the hall she sees Beth is being held by**_ _ **The Pathologist**_ _ **. The doctor snaps the girls neck as Malia watches. The hospital is in chaos. Carts, a wheelchair and a gurney are overturned. The two paramedics that picked Corey up from the school are sitting on the floor being treated by a nurse. Scott realizes that the chimera must have escaped. He and Theo set out to find him. Corey is standing, invisible, against the wall. He slowly becomes visible.**_

"Okay that is way cooler than being a freaking werewolf!" Mason grinned. "Hey!" the werewolves in the room exclaim at once.

 _ **The bell rings at school, Stiles sees Malia. She is obviously upset by Beth's death. Malia says "I hate this. I hate losing like this. I'm not like Scott. I can't deal with another body, another failure," and walks off. Scott and Theo have scoured the hospital looking for Corey but have had no luck. The power begins to fluctuate and they realize that the Dread Doctors have arrived. In the ambulance bay, Corey too realizes that the doctors have come to claim him. He goes invisible once again, blending in with the side of an ambulance. The Surgeon walks slowly through the bay, draws his spike from his cane and stabs into invisible Corey. The boy becomes visible and slumps to the floor. The Surgeon walks away.**_

"Well that was a bust" Corey sighed. "You don't seem too freaked out about the fact that you just died" Mason says. "It won't happen this time around" he says and looks to Scott.

 _ **Scott and Theo discover Corey's body and decide they need to find Hayden. Stiles is trying to get Lydia on the phone and leaves a voicemail explaining that there is another dead chimera and that being around Parrish probably isn't safe. He repeatedly tells her not to get in his way if he's trying to retrieve the body. Parrish and Lydia are wandering in the woods. Lydia decides he is thinking too hard about finding the Nemeton and that if he could stop thinking about it he could "feel" it. She decides that she will spar with the deputy to distract him. The trade a few blows and kicks. Lydia's skills have improved. Suddenly, Parrish's eyes glow orange and, off to the side through a couple of trees, he sees the Nemeton. Several bodies are stacked around it.**_

"So all we needed to do was let Lydia beat your ass and you could find the beacon easily" Stiles thought out loud earning him a punch on the arm by Lydia.

 _ **At school, the Sheriff's department and Medical Examiner are dealing with Beth's body. The Sheriff singles out Theo and takes him to the locker room to question him about his library key card and the evidence he found. Theo lies to the Sheriff and claims he killed Donovan and Stiles was not there. He relates events as they actually happened to Stiles, embellishing the story only a little by claiming Donovan wanted to kill Stiles in front of the Sheriff and that Theo bravely refused to tell the chimera where he could find Stiles. Theo works up real tears and does a passible imitation of human emotions as he tells this lie.**_

"So that's what crocodile tears look like" Peter mumbled. Laura looked at her uncle and shook her head, "not even worth an insult that one" she said to herself.

 _ **The sheriff seems to buy the whole thing and ends up hugging and comforting him. Theo's eyes change once the Sheriff can no longer see him. Hayden breaks into the safe at**_ _ **Sinema**_ _ **. She tells Liam that the combination is 12/34/56 or 123456. Hayden says "Phil's an idiot." There are several envelopes in the safe. Hayden takes the one with her name written on it and opens it. There are two $100 bills inside. Hayden says her sister, Deputy Clark, is going to go out of her mind with worry. Liam says they'll come up with something to tell her. She wonders where they will go and Liam says "Wherever is far enough I guess." Hayden worries that she will turn out like**_ _ **Tracy**_ _ **and might hurt Liam. He says if that happens he'll "get over it." The couple is kissing when the lights and projection system in the bar comes on. Old movies are projected on the walls and the lights for the dance floor spin and flash. They realize the Dread Doctors have arrived.**_

"Those dread doctors do know when to dampen a good mood" Mason sighed. "Shut up" Liam told him, blushing a brighter red than Hayden.

 _ **The Surgeon looks around the bar and breaks some bottles with his cane. Liam and Hayden make a run for the door but are blocked by the Pathologist who backhands Liam across the dance floor. Parrish is completely freaked out. He says he needs to turn himself in for attacking fellow officers. He says he shouldn't even be near Lydia but she says she's not afraid of him. Lydia rationalizes the situation saying that, whatever is happening, it only seems to happen when there is a body and other than that he's still "a pretty nice guy and a pretty good deputy." Parrish agrees saying he is a very good deputy and would like to stay that way but "Flipping over jeeps and attacking colleagues doesn't exactly fit with protect and serve." He says he's covering up the bodies of murdered teenagers and this gets Lydia thinking that maybe Parrish is simply covering up evidence of the supernatural. She thinks maybe he is keeping the secret safe and that, somehow, this is his purpose. Lydia says he is more than a deputy and "you aren't one of the bad guys." He tells her the rest of his dream about the Nemeton saying that, in the dream, there are hundreds of other bodies around the tree.**_

"So that was what? A vision of how many chimera's there could be out there?" Stiles asked. "I don't know" Lydia shrugged. "That maybe or it could be something far worse" Talia added.

 _ **Liam is tossed into the wall at Sinema. He urges Hayden to run as the Pathologist approaches her. Scott roars and jumps into the fight. He punches, kicks and claws at the Pathologist with little effect. Liam pounds on the Surgeon but the doctor hardly notices and tosses the boy across the floor again. The werewolves attack both their targets again with similar results. The Pathologist goes after Scott but he manages to dodge and escape. Scott renews his attack but the doctor head butts him and knocks him in to a pole. Scott goes down and the doctors turn their attention to Hayden. Scott attacks again but is rebuffed. Theo shows up and tells Liam to get Hayden out. Theo takes on the Surgeon but to little effect. Liam finds Hayden in another part of the bar. He is too late. The Geneticist has her and is injecting her with something. She falls to the floor as her eyes glaze over with mercury for a moment then clear.**_

"Shit!" Liam swore clutching Hayden's hand tightly.

 _ **Theo attacks the Surgeon again but once they get in close he says "I need more time." The doctor says, "The Perigee-syzygy. Until then." Scott is lying on the floor nearby but doesn't seem to understand what is being said. Scott comes around and he and Theo go to find Hayden and Liam. Liam explains what happened. Scott decides to take her to the animal clinic. Liam and Hayden ride in Theo's truck while Scott rides his motorcycle. Theo tells Liam not to let Hayden sleep. Liam tries to keep her awake while wondering aloud how they can help her. Theo says if it's**_ _ **Wolfsbane**_ _ **poisoning "you burn it out," but that he doesn't know anything about mercury. Liam wonders if she will heal but Theo points out that Hayden isn't a real werewolf. She is a "cheap knockoff." Liam thinks if they turn her into a werewolf they can save her but Theo points out that neither of them have that ability. Liam realizes Scott can.**_

"Oh you sneaky bastard" Stiles turned his glare on Theo. "What?" Theo asks. "You know perfectly well that Scott would not bite someone without their consent and with Hayden knocked out, he will not bite her. You are setting Liam against Scott so that he would go over to your side and leave Scott packless since the rest of us are nowhere. And if I can guess it correctly, you intend to make use of the super moon and have Liam kill Scott so that he becomes the Alpha and then you kill Liam so you can take the power all for yourself!" Stiles finished making Theo flinch slightly at the last comment since he was pretty sure that was his plan. The rest caught on easily to what Stiles was saying and they turned to glare at the teen who now found himself in a room of enemies.

 _ **Parrish has locked himself in a cell at the Sheriff's station. Lydia tells the Sheriff that the deputy thinks he is protecting the rest of them. The Sheriff is about to open the cell but Parrish stops him. He explains that he understands why the Sheriff sat him at a desk for six month. The sheriff says they can't keep him in jail but Parrish says there is another body. The sheriff admits that there are two. Parrish says he's been the one taking the bodies. He says he doesn't remember but that he is dangerous and needs to be locked up. The sheriff acquiesces. Scott and Stiles arrive at the animal clinic at the same time. Stiles Jeep has been repaired enough to drive but he says he's still having trouble with the engine. Scott doesn't know what to say to him after Theo's big lie. He removes the wrench from his coat pocket. Stiles wonders where he found it. Scott says he knows about Donovan but doesn't give the details relayed to him by Theo. Stiles, thinking his friend knows the actual story, doesn't provide details either. Theo's big lie stands between them.**_

"You should have fucking told him what had happened!" Laura groaned and turned to Stiles, "And you should have told him what happened!" Both teens blinked in unison then nodded slowly.

 _ **Theo listens from inside the clinic.**_

 _ **Stiles:**_ _ **You think I had a choice?**_

 _ **Scott:**_ _ **There's always a choice.**_

 _ **Stiles:**_ _ **Yeah, well I can't do what you can Scott. I know you wouldn't have done it. You probably would have just figured something out right?**_

 _ **Scott:**_ _ **I try.**_

 _ **Stiles:**_ _ **Yeah because you're Scott McCall! You're the True Alpha! Guess what, all of us can't be True Alphas. Some of us have to make mistakes. Some of us have to get our hands a little bloody sometimes. Some of us are human!**_

 _ **Scott:**_ _ **So you had to kill him?**_

 _ **Stiles:**_ _ **Scott, he was gonna kill my dad.**_

 _ **Scott:**_ _ **The way that it happened, there's a point where, it's just, it's not self-defense anymore.**_

 _ **Stiles:**_ _ **What are you even talking about? I didn't have a choice Scott. You don't even believe me do you?**_

 _ **Scott:**_ _ **I want to.**_

 _ **Stiles:**_ _ **Okay, alright so believe me then. Scott, say you believe me. Say it. Say you believe me.**_

 _ **Scott:**_ _ **Stiles, we can't kill people that we're trying to save.**_

 _ **Stiles:**_ _ **Say you believe me.**_

 _ **Scott:**_ _ **We can't kill people! Do you believe that?**_

 _ **Stiles:**_ _ **What do I do about this? What do you want me to do okay? Scott, just tell me how to fix this alright? Please just tell me what do you want me to do?**_

 _ **Scott tells Stiles to talk to his dad and then turns away and enters the clinic leaving Stiles alone in the rain.**_

"Oh god. You two are a total mess this year! Just fucking talk to each other like you two do all the time =. Maybe then you two wouldn't have believed that sack of shit's words so easily!" Laura groaned again. "Okay calm down now" Derek put a hand on his sister's shoulder stopping her from going over to the two and give them a piece of her mind and fist. "She is right though. When this happens in our future just talk to each other. And this goes for all of you. Talk to each other and solve a problem as a pack not as omegas" Talia advised calmly.

 _ **In the corner of the clinic, Liam holds Hayden in his arms. He tells Scott he thinks she is dying. Theo says it's some kind of mercury poisoning. Liam asks Scott to bite Hayden so that she will become a real werewolf and could heal. Scott refuses.**_

Scott sighs knowing exactly what would happen now.


	79. 5-10

_**Seconds after his decision,**_ _ **Liam**_ _ **confronts**_ _ **Scott**_ _ **about his refusal to give**_ _ **Hayden**_ _ **the bite. Scott explains that, in her weakened condition, the bite would likely kill her.**_

"There is a 50-50 chance of her dying. But then again a bite for even a normal and healthy human has a 50-50 chance of survival. But I think since Hayden is a chimera, her healing would accept the bite happily and she would have survived this" Peter mused.

 _ **Liam feels Scott is breaking his promise to do everything he could to save Hayden. Scott begins to have trouble breathing and**_ _ **Theo**_ _ **tosses him an inhaler. He takes a deep pull off the device and says there is another way to save Hayden. The girl's condition seems to be getting worse and Theo says, while he doesn't know the statistics for surviving a werewolf bite, Hayden won't survive unless they do something.**_ _ **Stiles'**_ _ **Jeep begins to smoke as the engine coughs. He pulls over. Angry, he pulls out his wrench set and throws it on the ground. He throws back the hood and retrieves the tools. Inside the case, one slot is empty. It is the wrench he lost when confronting**_ _ **Donovan**_ _ **. He throws the box of wrenches in a fit of rage then slams down the hood and circles to the passenger side to retrieve the bloody tool. He makes as if to throw it down the road with the others but instead turns and throws it into the Jeep's windscreen. Stiles sits in the road with his back against the vehicle's front tire.**_

Lydia gave Stiles' hand a comforting squeeze. Stiles looked at the girl sitting beside him and gave her a weak smile, the fight on screen with his best friend hitting a chord in him. He squeezed her hand, thankful for her support right now.

 _ **What follows is radio traffic between different Beacon Hills Sheriff's Deputies and a dispatcher inside the station. None of the action is shown in this scene. We see only the dispatcher and the Sheriff and have only the descriptions provided by the officers.**_

 _ **Dispatch**_ _ **– Unit 7 can you 10-9? I didn't quite get that.**_

 _ **Unit 7**_ _ **– 10-4 Dispatch. I'm southbound on Fryman following suspicious individual loping in the middle of the road.**_

 _ **Dispatch**_ _ **– Seven, clarify "loping."**_

 _ **Unit 7**_ _ **– Running on all fours. Suspect is possibly a large animal.**_

 _ **Unit 5**_ _ **– Unit 5 to Dispatch, I'm turning the corner on Lincoln. Suspect is no longer loping but running.**_

 _ **Dispatch**_ _ **– 10-4 Unit 5. Clarify "running?"**_

 _ **Unit 5**_ _ **– Two legs. Moving fast.**_

 _ **Dispatch**_ _ **– Copy. What's your speed?**_

 _ **Unit 5**_ _ **– 45 to 50. Advise that suspect is too large to be human.**_

 _ **Dispatch**_ _ **– 10-4 Unit 5. Back off and maintain eyes. Dispatch to all units; be on the lookout for suspicious bipedal animal.**_

 _ **Unit 8**_ _ **– Unit 8 to Dispatch, advise coming up on Taft. Animal is back on all fours and… HOLY… (sound of car skidding)**_

 _ **Stilinski**_ _ **– Unit 8 this is Stilinski, report.**_

 _ **Unit 8**_ _ **– 10-4 Sheriff, suspect just leapt over my car.**_

 _ **Unit 5**_ _ **– Dispatch, I have eyes on the suspect, corner of Union headed north toward Beacon Hills High School. Confirm: back on all fours.**_

 _ **Dispatch**_ _ **– 10-4. Can you give his '20?**_

 _ **Unit 5**_ _ **– In my rearview mirror coming right toward me! Advise suspect is OH MY GOD!**_

 _ **Stilinski**_ _ **– Clark! Back off! (sound of car crash)**_

 _ **Dispatch**_ _ **– All available units to Beacon Hills High School proceed with caution.**_

Hayden whimpered slightly, fearing for the safety of her sister. Liam put a hand on her shoulder and gave a reassuring squeeze, "she'll be okay" he said. Hayden nodded and rested her head against his shoulder. "I hope you're right" she mumbled.

 _ **A few minutes later,**_ _ **Sheriff Stilinski**_ _ **is running down the hallway at the school and is intercepted by**_ _ **Deputy Clark**_ _ **.**_

Hayden whimpered a sigh. "Told you so" Liam grinned at her. Hayden looked up at the boy and smiled, whipping a stray tear on her cheek.

 _ **She has a cut on her head and explains that she totaled her patrol vehicle and ran a half mile to get to the school. The sheriff tells her not to worry about the car because insurance will cover the cost. Clark says she wonders how much insurance the school has. She leads the sheriff around the corner to where something has tossed the large brick "Beacon Hills High School" sign through the roof. It is cracked in half in the middle of the hallway.**_

"I don't think damage to school by some supernatural creature throwing the school sigh through the building would be covered by insurance" Mason chuckled.

 _ **Unseen behind the two law officers, the**_ _ **Dread Doctors**_ _ **observe the wreckage of the school. The Surgeon says "Success imminent."**_

"Success imminent" Melissa repeated the words with great amounts of distaste and fear.

 _ **The next morning,**_ _ **Melissa McCall**_ _ **has joined Scott, Theo and Liam at**_ _ **Beacon Hills Animal Clinic**_ _ **. Hayden is lying on the exam table as Melissa explains that she is going to try**_ _ **chelation therapy**_ _ **to remove the heavy metals (mercury) from Hayden's blood. She is concerned because the process can injure the patient's kidneys and "Hayden only has one to begin with."**_

"She'll be okay" Liam muttered, trying to console himself more than the stiff girl seating beside him.

 _ **Hayden reacts when the intravenous needle is inserted into her vein and Liam grabs Melissa's wrist yelling that the nurse is hurting Hayden. Melissa calmly says that Liam is hurting her and he backs off. Theo reminds them all that they are there to save a life and not to kill each other. Scott points out that they can feel the effects of the full moon during the day as well. Theo says it's the**_ _ **Supermoon**_ _ **and Melissa asks if that means they get super strong or super aggressive. Scott says "both." In his office, the Sheriff examines a notebook with pictures labeled "Know Chimeras." Underneath the book he finds an envelope with his name. Inside is Stiles' Library Keycard which he claimed he lost weeks earlier. A post-it note from Melissa says "Maintenance found this in the hospital trash."**_

"Gee thanks Mrs. McCall" Stiles mumbled glumly. "You're very welcome Stiles" Melissa smiled innocently.

 _ **Theo and Scott sit in the waiting room at the Animal Clinic. Theo says Scott is going to need help handling Liam but Scott believes he will be alright. Theo points out that Liam is 16 and in love. He says those emotions mixed with the supermoon will be bad. Theo says "We need help." He says Scott needs the pack with him. Scott says he's not sure he has a pack anymore. Theo offers to talk to them on Scott's behalf.**_

"Say no Scott. That guy is bad shit I tell you" Stiles said aloud. "I know. And me on the screen can't hear you" Scott said with a small smile.

 _ **Lydia and Parrish are sitting with the bars of the jail cell between them. They discuss Parrish's powers. Lydia says he finds bodies like she does. He wonders if he is a harbinger of death.**_

"You could call it that. They are more like the protectors of the supernatural world from the humans" Talia mused. "I wonder where he was back when the hunters found out about the supernatural world in the first place" Chris thought to himself.

 _ **Scott has fallen asleep at the clinic. Liam stands over him and his eyes glow yellow.**_

"Oh don't do that man" Mason groaned.

 _ **A tow truck drives away with Stiles' Jeep on the back.**_ _ **Malia**_ _ **has arrived to pick him up. During the drive, she asks if they can fix the Jeep but Stiles says it's too far gone. He explains that the vehicle has a bad alternator, needs all new belts, the transmission is going and the brake pads are "metal on metal." She asks why he let it get so bad. Stiles says there have been "a few distractions if you haven't noticed." Malia says "I notice. More than you think I do." Stiles tries to apologize but she asks if she should take him home. He says he needs to see his dad at the Sheriff's Station.**_ _ **Parrish**_ _ **asks if it helps that**_ _ **Lydia**_ _ **knows what she is. She says it doesn't scare her as much. She then wonders aloud if she scares him. He says he was only scared of her once, when he was attacked by the werewolf with the big talons. He explains that he thought he was dying and then he saw Lydia. She asks what she was doing in his vision and he says she was trying to keep him alive. Lydia says that night she was actually just trying to stay out of the rain. Thinking about that night reminds her of the story of**_ _ **"The Wild Hunt"**_ _ **a myth about ghost riders in the sky with big black dogs that**_ _ **Kira's**_ _ **parents were talking about during that storm. This gives her an idea and she leaves Parrish at the jail.**_

"You figured him out" Stiles smiled, "As expected of Lydia Martin. The smartest girl around." Lydia blushed bright red at the compliment, "shut up Stilinski" she mumbled.

 _ **Liam believes the treatment isn't working. Melissa says she should be showing signs of improvement. Hayden whispers that they should call her sister**_ _ **Valerie Clark**_ _ **. Scott says Theo just texted about cops being everywhere at the high school. Hayden asks him to find her sister because she doesn't want to die without her there. Scott says he will. Malia offers to go into the Sheriff's station with Stiles. He says it will probably take a while and opens the door to get out. Malia asks if Stiles is going to tell his father about**_ _ **Donovan**_ _ **. Stiles gets back into the car.**_

"Well that's one way to pull Stiles back" Scott chuckled.

 _ **Malia explains that she guessed after she saw the bite on his shoulder while he was sleeping. She never said anything because it didn't matter to her that he killed Donovan. Stiles says it matters to him and gets out of the car.**_

"Self-Defense son" Noah sighed. Stiles did not meet his father's eyes. He might not have killed Donovan yet but he still felt the guilt of doing it.

 _ **In the jail cell, Parrish has his recurring dream of taking bodies to the**_ _ **Nemeton**_ _ **. A deputy tells Stiles that his father left about a half hour ago. Stiles says he'll wait in his office. The station seems to be getting hotter. Lydia is flipping through a book on mythology at the high school library. She finds the section on the Wild Hunt and reads about the dogs that accompany the ghost riders.**_ _ **"**_ _ **Woden's Hunt,**_ _ **also known as the Wild Ride or Wild Hunt. A myth of devilish riders in the sky accompanied by black dogs, spectral beasts whose eyes glowed with fire... A Bearer of Death and Guardian of the Supernatural, the black dog is also known by its more common name, the Hellhound."**_ _ **Parrish opens his eyes, they glow with fire.**_

"That's a neat introduction you got there Parrish. And a 10/10 for that entry" Stiles said with a smirk. Parrish shook his head at the whole childish notion with a smile.

 _ **Lydia begins hearing banshee voices. The whispers are mostly unintelligible but we hear Liam roar and Scott says "I can't let you kill me."**_

Parents of said alpha turned to glare at the teen who squirmed in his seat.

 _ **Theo is in the library and startles Lydia. He says she knows what's coming. She says someone is going to die there, and he says he can't let her warn anyone because he wants her and he wants all of them. She is confused. He back hands her and knocks her unconscious.**_

"I'm decking you so hard for that one once all this is over" Stiles growled. Theo shrugged without a care, after all what can one lanky human do?

 _ **Malia returns to the cave where she lived for so long as a coyote. As she holds her sister's doll, she remembers the night of the crash that killed her mother and sister. Her biological mother,**_ _ **Desert Wolf**_ _ **was standing in the road firing a gun at the car. She is surprised when a wolf enters the den and transforms into naked Theo. She wants to know how he did it.**_

"And now he got Malia's interest" Scott thought.

 _ **Melissa draws Hayden's blood. Gray spots have begun appearing on her skin and Melissa decides that they need to take her to the hospital because she needs human medical supplies. She says they won't "take her through the front door." Alarms begin sounding at the Sheriff's station as the temperature continues to rise. In his cell, Parrish grabs the bars with both hands and they begin to glow red hot. He bends them apart.**_

"That is very cool but terrifying at the same time" Mason mumbled. "Why would it be terrifying?" Corey looked at him. "Think what that can do to a human" Mason said with a shudder. Corey deadpanned, "you have an unnecessarily over active imagination."

 _ **Theo offers to show Malia how to do the full shift. Theo says he has nothing to hide. Malia apparently does though. Theo asks if she's told Scott that she plans to kill her biological mother. He says he's not judging and wants to help her. She asks why he would help and he says because he knows Scott won't. He says if Scott isn't strong enough then someone else needs to take the lead. He explains that they're moving Hayden to the hospital and that there are two more chimeras still unaccounted for. He says "they need help. They need you."**_

"I should rip your throat out" Malia growled. "Not yet Malia. After we are all done with him, you can have your fun" Allison glared at Theo.

 _ **Scott looks at the damage done to the school hallway by the chimera the night before. He gets a text from Lydia that simply says "Library."**_

"Bastard" Lydia growled.

 _ **Parrish is smoking. He walks slowly through the station. His fellow deputies pull their weapons but Stiles warns them to let him go and not to get in his way. They listen and Parrish exits without further incident, Stiles follows. Growls can be heard from behind a locked door in an "under construction" part of**_ _ **Beacon Hills Memorial Hospital**_ _ **. Theo tosses away a key. Hayden slumps in a wheelchair as Melissa and Liam take her up to the 4**_ _ **th**_ _ **floor in the elevator. She groans with pain and a small cloud of black liquid backwashes into the intravenous bag. Liam grabs her hand and she repeats that she wants her sister to come. Melissa assures her that Scott is out looking for her and will bring her as soon as he can. More black spots appear on Hayden's neck. In the library, Scott calls out for Lydia. There is no answer. His own phone is blowing up with texts from Liam –**_

" _ **Call me"**_

" _ **She's getting worse! Call!"**_

" _ **Where r u?"**_

" _ **Call me now!"**_

" _ **CALL ME!"**_

 _ **He tries Lydia's cellphone and hears a buzzing off to the side in the stacks. He finds her phone and notices a line of**_ _ **Mountain Ash**_ _ **running down the length of the Library's main floor. He emerges from the stacks to find Theo completing the Mountain Ash circle sealing Scott inside the library.**_

"What do you plan to do?" Stiles glared. "Isn't it obvious? He plans to let Liam and Scott fight to the death in there" Lydia says with a glare indicated at Theo.

 _ **Theo explains that he can hold the Mountain Ash because he is a chimera, the first chimera, and therefore not really supernatural. He says that he is part coyote which is why Malia was more trusting of him. Theo says an alternate definition of chimera is "something impossible to achieve or unrealizable dream." He says the Dread Doctors "came close with me." Scott takes a run at Theo but the chimera steps over the mountain ash line and Scott crashes into the supernatural barrier and is bounced back into the room. Theo then flips on one of the cell phone jammers Stiles procured to trap the Dread Doctors meaning Scott won't be able to call for help.**_

"You are so dead. You are so dead" Liam growled, his anger finally rising.

 _ **Mason rushes down the unfinished 4**_ _ **th**_ _ **floor corridor at the hospital. His arms are full of medical supplies. He asks Melissa if they should get a doctor. Melissa says she's been wrestling with that idea for hours. She wonders if she should let doctors treat Hayden like a normal patient while Melissa knows it's not going to work. Should she let the doctors do everything medically possible to save her while her body does things that shouldn't be medically possible. Mason asks if she is dying. Melissa says with the amount of mercury in her body she shouldn't be alive.**_

Hayden looked down, twiddling with her fingers. "You can give me the bite" she suddenly says and looks at Scott. "If this happens again…give me the bite. I'll take that chance rather than die without trying that" she said firmly. All Scott could do was nod.

 _ **Scott pushes against the Mountain Ash barrier but cannot cross. He chastises himself because he managed to cross a similar barrier once before. He takes another hit off the inhaler that Theo threw to him earlier and makes a run at the barrier. He is repelled halfway across the room. As he picks himself up, he sees a storage room and gets an idea. Inside there is a latter to the roof. Scott begins to climb. On the under-construction 4**_ _ **th**_ _ **floor of the hospital bags of "Donor Marrow" lay in a bloody mess on the floor. There are slurping sounds. The lock from the room where we heard the growls is twisted and broken on the floor near the bags. Malia walks cautiously toward a shadowy figure behind some plastic sheeting. The chimera has a large bony spike sticking out of the back of his hand and another, shorter spike coming from his wrist. He slurps on a bag of marrow as he stares at Malia with deep-set eyes. He rises and the bag slips from his lips landing on the floor. He growls and runs at Malia. She bares fangs and meets his advance.**_

"He kinda looks like a berserker" Liam thought, his mind still furious at the chimera.

 _ **Scott makes it to the roof of the library but finds that the Mountain Ash barrier extends at least as high as he can reach and still blocks his exit. He is struck by another bout of asthma and reaches for the inhaler. He tries to take a puff but it doesn't seem to help. In frustration he crushes the device and a puff of purple gas curls up from his hand. He realizes that the inhaler, given to him by Theo, was full of wolfsbane. He's been weakening himself each time he used it.**_

"The kid thougtht of everything" Peter mused.

 _ **Liam is on the roof. He is furious. Scott wonders aloud if Theo let him in. Liam wants him to save Hayden with the bite. Scott tries to explain that he can't save her that way. Liam says he's thinking about alternatives saying Scott will keep his promise to save Hayden even if it kills him. Scott says the supermoon is feeding his anger and making him more aggressive.**_

"Yep but the anger is still there. He really wants you to save that girl in any way possible" Peter chuckled. Liam felt bothered by what was said. Not because he wanted to save Hayden, no he really wants her not to die. He is disturbed by the fact that he would be willing to kill. There was a line here that felt he should never cross.

 _ **Hayden's vital signs are dropping and Melissa tells**_ _ **Mason**_ _ **to find Liam saying if he wants to be with her he needs to get there now because she is dying. Liam and Scott fight on the roof. Scott is holding back but Liam is going full throttle. They fall through a skylight into the library below. Malia faces the spiked chimera takes a bit of a beating.**_ _ **Braeden**_ _ **shows up and shoots it with tazer darts. The creature is knocked down but manages to get back up and escape.**_

"Remind me to thank your girlfriend for that" Peter mumbled making Derek give him confused glares.

 _ **Parrish arrives at the impound lot. Most of his clothes have been burned away. Stiles follows as Parrish finds two bodies in the back of a van. He takes the vehicle. Braeden informs Malia that the**_ _ **Desert Wolf**_ _ **knows she is alive and she's coming back to Beacon Hills.**_

"Better for me. Enough opportunities to kill her" Malia thought. Even then though, her heart was beating fast in fear.

 _ **Stiles is trying to call Scott when Theo pulls up at the impound lot. Stiles wants to find Scott but Theo says Scott doesn't want to talk to him. Scott and Liam continue their fight. Scott is taking a beating and is bleeding. Scott says he can't let Liam kill him then turns to the full moon, transforms, and allows himself to fight back with more force.**_

"You're gonna get it now" Mason whispered. "Shut up man" Liam whispered harshly, but even he knew he was in deep trouble if Scott got serious.

 _ **Theo taunts Stiles with the lies he told the Sheriff about Donovan's death. He has Stiles library ID suggesting that he somehow took it from the Sheriff. Stiles worries that Theo has hurt his father. Theo explains that he came to Beacon Hills to take Scott's pack. "I came for the**_ _ **Werecoyote**_ _ **, the one whose first instinct is to kill. I came for the**_ _ **Banshee**_ _ **the girl surrounded by death. I came for the dark**_ _ **Kitsune**_ _ **, the beta with anger issues. I came for Void Stiles. That's the pack I want. Unfortunately it doesn't include Scott." Theo says he can hear Stiles heartbeat rising and he knows it isn't out of fear. He says the**_ _ **Nogitsune**_ _ **is gone but Stiles still has more blood on his hands than anyone. Stiles says he is about to get more blood on them.**_

"As tempting as it is, I don't think you should kill him to sully yourself" Derek grunted. "I'll do it for you" Laura grinned making Derek and Stiles look at her like she was crazy.

 _ **The fight in the library rages on. Theo says he will tell Stiles where the Sheriff is but only if he promises not to help Scott. Stiles punches Theo much to the chimera's amusement. Stiles hits him again. Theo is still trying to recruit Stiles saying "you'll get it eventually." Theo says Stiles can't save the sheriff and help Scott but that he still has time to save his father's life.**_

"Go for Scott" Noah said to his son, "I'm sure I will be just fine. You go for that boy and you save him. Got that?" he said firmly. Stiles looked at his father with a defeated look but said nothing.

 _ **Liam's face is also bloodied as the fight in the library continues. Scott does a flip onto the second floor and tries again to talk Liam down. He explains that Theo is using Liam because Liam is the only one who can take away Scott's True Alpha status. He says once Liam has taken the status, Theo will then take it from Liam. Scott says that's why Theo wants Liam to kill Scott. Liam says he would want to kill Scott even without Theo's interference. The fight resumes with Liam gaining the upper hand. Hayden dies. A single tear of mercury runs down her cheek.**_

Hayden slumps in her seat and her head falls against Liam who had put an arm around her.

 _ **Liam has Scott down and begins clawing away at him rapid fire. Scott raises his arms to fend off the blows. Mason screams Liam's name and snaps him out of his blind rage. Scott is covered in blood. Mason tells him that Hayden is dead. Liam runs through the school. Mason helps Scott to his feet as Theo arrives. The chimera slams Mason into a table knocking him out.**_

All the emotions he had inside him turned to pure fury as Liam glared at Theo very close to attacking the smug looking bastard.

 _ **Theo says he should have stayed and made sure. He jabs his claws into Scott's abdomen. He says Scott's pack will come around but Scott says they won't because Theo is "barely even human." Theo, enraged, drives his claws in deeper and pushes Scott down onto the floor. As Theo walks away, the red glow fades from Scott's eyes.**_

"He just fainted" Melissa said shakily, she does not even want to think of the alternative. She blinked when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked to her side and saw Chris who was looking at her in understanding. She nodded to him and Chris nodded back, removing his hand after giving her a reassuring squeeze.

 _ **In the abandoned house used by the Dread Doctors, Stiles finds his father lying on the floor bloodied and beaten. Liam cries as he holds Hayden's body. Parrish arrives to take her away and Liam gives her one last kiss.**_

Hayden sighs and buried her face into Liam's neck. Liam rubbed her back gently and kissed her head.

 _ **Mason's hands are covered in Scott's blood. Melissa arrives and begins performing chest compressions on her son. Mason says Scott has been without a pulse for over 15 minutes. He says you can't bring someone back like that. Melissa says "He's not someone. He's my son and he's an Alpha and he's too strong to die like this!" She continues compressions and blows air into his lungs. She continues to talk to him as she presses on his chest, urging him to roar. With one final blow to the chest she screams at him and his eyes, glowing, snap open ad he roars.**_

"That's music to my ears" Peter hummed. "Dude you okay?" Stiles asks looking weirdly at the wolf. "The roar of a true alpha at his peak is really something" Talia agreed.

 _ **In the lair of the Dread Doctors, Lydia is lying on the floor. Her head hurts from where Theo knocked her out. Theo rushes in and jabs his claws into the back of her neck saying, "I've never done this before, and I know how dangerous it is but it's a risk we have to take." He gets visions of the Nemeton and then jerks his claws out of her neck. Lydia seems paralyzed and just kneels there, mouth agape.**_

Stiles stiffens then gets up, "you guys…continue without me" he said. Lydia tried to stop Stiles but he had already moved out of his place and was already on Theo. The others looked back before they turned to the screen as howls of pain were heard in the background.

 _ **Theo goes over to the large body-holding tube of liquid and fills a large syringe. Back at home, Melissa tends to Scott's wounds in his room. She explains that every leader suffers loss and sometimes it is more than you think is bearable. Scott says he's lost everyone, but she is optimistic that he will get them back "because you're their leader and even when a leader thinks they have nothing left to give, there's one thing – hope." Theo drags Lydia through the woods to the Nemeton she still seems catatonic. Theo injects several of the chimeras with the fluid from the syringe. Each one comes back to life.**_ _ **Tracy**_ _ **,**_ _ **Corey**_ _ **,**_ _ **Josh**_ _ **and**_ _ **Hayden**_ _ **are revived.**_

Liam sighs in relief but he had a bad feeling about this. And by the looks of things so did Hayden, Corey and Mason.

 _ **Theo says he is their Alpha and they all belong to him. They follow him out of the woods. Back in the lair,**_ _ **The Surgeon**_ _ **uses his cane to hammer into the wall revealing a painting of two creatures fighting. As he hammers he says "Le Bete, Le Bete, Le Bete, Success."**_

"Le Bete? What's that?" Mason asked. "I think it could be him but I'm not sure" Chris said but didn't elaborate. "Uh should we stop Stiles now?" Lydia asked throwing a glance at Stiles who was successfully throwing punches at the fallen Theo. "Fuck that! I'm joining him!" Liam growled and pounced on the fallen Chimera.


	80. Author's Note 4

Hey guys its the admin here. Lately there has been some issues with the site because of which my chapters are not coming out properly and I can't read the reviews at all. SO if any of you see that a chapter is wonky or just plain code, PM me directly to let me know? A few of you guys have already done that and I can't stress enough on how grateful I am to them for letting me know. Love you guys and thank you all for the amount of love I am getting on this story. Hopefully you all will stick with me till the end and possibly with any other projects I take up on ^_^


	81. 5-11

"We should stop them before they kill the boy" Claudia said after watching the two boys beat the crap out of Theo. "Not yet" Peter said in glee, finally out of the hate sight of everyone in the room. "I think not" Scott sighed and pulled the two off the chimera. Liam huffed and stopped but Stiles kept on kicking. "This is for my friend, my father, my car and finally Lydia" he growled and kept kicking him.

After finally calming down, everyone returned to their seats. "I wonder where Sky was this time" Laura said to Derek who shrugged. A piece of paper flashed in front of her and she picked it up. _"I was in the bathroom"_ she red and deadpanned. She through the paper behind her and somehow hit a groaning Theo on the face and resumed watching.

 _ **At some future point in time,**_ _ **Lydia Martin**_ _ **has a vision of standing in a fast-moving water.**_ _ **Dr. Valack**_ _ **is guiding her through the vision and asking her to describe what she sees. It's night and she can see the bridge where we last saw a young**_ _ **Theo**_ _ **watching his sister**_ _ **Tara Raeken**_ _ **die. Valack urges Lydia to give him more and more details because he says he needs to know why Theo let his sister die. Theo's sister rises from the water. She has a large gaping hole in her chest through which we can see her ribs.**_

"I don't think hypothermia can do that" Mason pointed out. "I think Theo could" Stiles mumbled in disgust.

 _ **Her heart is gone. Once Lydia, with a fresh**_ _ **trepanation hole**_ _ **in her head, relates this news to Valack, the doctor speculates that Theo wanted her heart for a transplant to make himself a biological chimera. He says leaving his sister to die in the cold water in hypothermic conditions would keep the organ viable.**_

"I was right" Stiles said not at all happy. Against his side was Lydia Martin, who had seen the hole in her skull. She was shaking at the thought of the pain that would cause her. The only comfort she could feel from all this was that this wouldn't happen a second time since they knew what was going to happen. And the arm around her that held her gently yet firmly, like an anchor to reality.

 _ **The**_ _ **Dread Doctors**_ _ **are shown with the heart and a young Theo prepared for surgery. Valack doesn't understand why the DD wanted Theo, "A ten-year-old willing to kill his own sister." A groggy Lydia asks Valack why he cares. He explains that Theo was the first step in the right direction for the Dread Doctors. He explains they are para-scientists who have prolonged their lives and twisted the laws of nature in an effort to create the "perfect killer." He says they've now reached that goal but Lydia says Theo doesn't know who their last chimera actually is. Valack says that doesn't matter because there is a reason they chose Theo, a reason he failed and a reason they changed their methods and finally succeeded. Valack says it all starts with Theo.**_

"And hopefully it would end with him" Scott thought. He did not wish to kill the boy but if he became a threat to his friends as shown in the memories, he would have no choice but to do it, even if it meant he would never be an Alpha.

 _ **Still in the future,**_ _ **Tracy**_ _ **disables an**_ _ **Eichen House**_ _ **guard with**_ _ **Kanima**_ _ **venom.**_ _ **Josh**_ _ **disarms one of the guards by grabbing his taser and absorbing the electricity from it.**_ _ **Corey**_ _ **becomes visible from where he had been camouflaged against the lobby wall.**_

"So I basically hide while the others do all the work? Just great" Corey rolled his eyes and groaned. "You still have super strength and can help in a fight" Mason said trying to cheer up the boy as he rubbed his back.

 _ **Orderly Schrader informs them that visiting hours are over. Theo joins his pack and says they are there for Lydia. Dr. Valack continues questioning Lydia. She says Scott and Stiles found out the Doctors succeeded on the night of the supermoon but that they didn't really know yet because there was too much going on. She explains the events,**_ _ **Liam**_ _ **'s attack on**_ _ **Scott**_ _ **,**_ _ **Kira Yukimura**_ _ **'s absence,**_ _ **Malia**_ _ **'s attempts to find the**_ _ **Desert Wolf**_ _ **and**_ _ **Sheriff Stilinski**_ _ **'s injuries.**_

Said people fidgeted in their seats.

 _ **In the present, the Sheriff is wheeled into the operating room at**_ _ **Beacon Hills Memorial Hospital**_ _ **.**_ _ **Dr. Geyer**_ _ **, Liam's stepfather, says Stilinski has a lacerated liver and a perforated intestine. The Sheriff removes his oxygen mask and asks for his son.**_

Stiles' and Claudia's eyes softened with concern and worry for their family member. Noah sighed, on one hand he wouldn't be too sad if he had died right then and was reunited with his wife. But on the other hand, the bigger hand was screaming at him to not leave his son alone in this world of monsters.

 _ **Stiles**_ _ **is at the admissions desk where the person on duty can't seem to find the Sheriff's insurance information and mistakes him for a deputy which frustrates his son.**_ _ **Melissa McCall**_ _ **arrives and takes control. She explains she texted Scott and he is on his way. She offers to call Malia but Stiles tells her not to call anyone. The person behind the desk asks if there is any next of kin she should contact. Stiles explains he's all the family there is.**_

Claudia bit her lips, clutching the hand of her husband with everything she got. If he would die here, Stiles would in a way truly be lonely, something she never wanted her son to be. She looked back at her son to see that he was clutching the arm of his chair so tightly that his knuckles were going white. Beside him, Lydia was gently rubbing his back, murmuring comforting words in his ears probably. "Maybe not completely alone" she thought to herself and her lips twitching upwards slightly.

 _ **Scott is caring for his wound in his bathroom. He drops a bloody rag into the sink. The wounds inflicted by Liam seem to have healed but the stab to his gut from Theo is still ragged and bleeding. He stares into the mirror and tries to spark his**_ _ **Alpha Werewolf**_ _ **eyes. With great physical strain, he manages to get them to glow red briefly but they quickly flicker out and return to normal. He pounds the sink in frustration.**_

"The scattered pack is affecting him" Peter mused. "And also his mind at that moment couldn't be in a good place either" Derek mumbled.

 _ **He retrieves some bandages from the medicine cabinet, gets dressed and exits his room into the hallway. His vision shifts and the hallway seems to warp away from him. He passes out and collapses to the floor.**_

"And he is home alone" Melissa groans.

 _ **At the hospital, Stiles sits in the waiting room all alone crying.**_

Claudia sighed. She so wanted to give his son a hug and comfort him to the best of her abilities at that time, but two things stopped her. One she was dead in that time and two since it was in the future, the current Stiles wouldn't be going through the same emotions as future Stiles. _"The emotions felt are on the same level. Go. Your son needs you"_ she heard a whisper. She got up and sat down on the other side of Stiles and wrapped her arms around her son and hugged him tightly. "He can't die" Stiles said his voice breaking. "He won't" Claudia said soothingly and ran her fingers through her son's hair as he broke down in her arms. Lydia had gotten up from her place and switched with Noah who rubbed his son's back gently. Internally, he had come to a decision. He could not and would not leave his son alone in this world. He might have a lot of friends, but he needed his family to be there for him when he needed them. And he can't let him go through this pain, not again.

 _ **Jordan Parrish**_ _ **is in the shower. Dirt and pieces of charred leaves fall from his body. Suddenly Lydia is there. They kiss for a moment but then he notices that the nail of her right index finger is broken and bloody. He notices the dirt and leaves on the shower floor and questions what's happening. Lydia explains that he is a "harbinger of death" and asks, "Don't you know?" He doesn't and she says someone is dying. Parrish wakes up behind the wheel of an SUV in the middle of traffic. Horns blare as cars swerve out of his way.**_

"SO a death premonition?" Mason asked. "Has to be" Parrish said softly.

 _ **Parrish calls**_ _ **Deputy Clark**_ _ **at the Sheriff's Station to let her know that Lydia is missing. She explains that he is missing too and says people there are really confused by his behavior. He says he'll explain but tells her that she has to get everyone available to search for Lydia. She points out that there is a lot going down, recounting the attack on the school, the mostly trashed library and the fact that "there might be a prehistoric animal running around the streets." She also says she is thinking of transferring out of Beacon Hills. Parrish says he understands but he has to find Lydia. He leaves on foot and ends up in the woods near the**_ _ **Nemeton**_ _ **. He calls out for Lydia. His flashlight dies. He lights a flare and, as the flame passes near his face, his eyes flash orange and he sees something in the distance. He drops the flare and sets off.**_

"One harbinger of death calling the other?" Allison asked. Lydia who was now in Noah's place shrugged, "probably. I'm not sure. It could also be the Nemeton showing him what he needed to see" she explained

 _ **Stiles is asleep at the hospital. He hears his father saying he needs to get up. As he returns to consciousness it is Melissa calling his name. She explains that the Sheriff came through surgery fine and he is going to make a full recovery. Stiles wants to see him but she says it will be two hours yet before the anesthesia wears off. Stiles thanks God and begins to cry again.**_

Claudia muffles a choked sigh as she hug her son. Noah put his arms around both of them and pulled them as close as he could, the arms on the chair disappearing and the three seat joining to form a kind of sofa.

 _ **Scott is unconscious on the hallway floor where he collapsed. Parrish wakes him and notices he is bleeding. Scott says it's not that bad and questions why the deputy is in his house. Parrish says he needs help and turns to show Lydia standing catatonic at the end of the hall. Parrish explains that he found her in the woods and that she was practically hypothermic. Lydia had broken her nail and bloodied her finger drawing a sheriff's badge on a nearby rock. Scott says the badge is a warning. The Sheriff is breathing heavily and raggedly through his oxygen mask. His skin looks dry and bruised.**_

Whatever happiness she had felt, quickly turned to smoke and flew out of her, the void getting replaced by more worry as she saw her now dying husband.

 _ **Mason**_ _ **chases Liam from the school to the Sheriff's Station. Deputy Clark exits the building and takes one of the department's SUVs. Liam wants to tell her about**_ _ **Hayden**_ _ **'s death but Mason stops him saying that looking like Liam does, bloodied and torn clothing from the fight with Scott, the authorities might think that Liam killed Hayden. Liam feels he might actually be responsible for her death.**_

"You're not!" Hayden said it with so much force and such a hard glare that Liam couldn't come up with an argument.

 _ **Mason says no. He says while the past few hours weren't Liam's best turning himself into the police isn't the way to fix it. Liam suddenly smells Hayden's scent. She appears as a reflection in one of the car windows but the boys don't actually see her. Mason reminds him that he saw her dead body.**_

"Yes but she is alive now" Corey points out. "Well they don't know that yet" Malia snapped making Corey back down.

 _ **Scott and Parrish rush Lydia into the hospital emergency room. Scott makes for the elevator while Parrish explains Lydia's condition to the doctors and nurses. Upstairs, Scott sees Stiles becoming more and more upset as he talks to Dr. Geyer and Melissa. He says his father is getting worse, that he was fine and now "it looks like someone took a baseball bat to his neck." Dr. Geyer says there may be some minor internal bleeding. Stiles becomes more agitated as Scott makes his way down the hall and peeks in on the Sheriff in the recovery room. Melissa admits that they don't know what's wrong with the Sheriff. At that moment, Stiles spots Scott and runs down the hall toward him. He tackles him and screams at him demanding to know where he was while his father was getting attacked. He blames him for trusting Theo and demands again to know where he was.**_

Scott looked at his best friend who was still wrapped in a tight hug by his parents. Stiles met his eyes with his own teary eyes, showing he was sorry for his actions. Scott just nodded with a smile saying it was alright.

 _ **Security guards separate the two as Scott explains that the Sheriff isn't the only one who got hurt. Stiles is dismissive and says, "You'll heal." Scott says he's not talking about himself. Downstairs,**_ _ **Natalie Martin**_ _ **is stroking Lydia's forehead and explaining that everything will be all right. Lydia turns away from her mother and toward the door a few seconds before Stiles comes in. Natalie freaks out on the boy, screaming at him to get out and blaming him for Lydia's injuries. Stiles urges her to check the back of Lydia's neck. Natalie seems not to be listening as she forces Stiles from the room and closes the door behind him but she checks Lydia's neck. There are deep and ragged gashes from Theo's attempt to take her memories. Lydia begins speaking, repeating "I told you to stay in the car" which is what her mother told her when she wandered into Eichen House as a child and witnessed her grandmother's trepanation wound.**_

"Oh god mom" Lydia gasped when she finally realized what her mother would go through once she found her in that state.

 _ **Parrish, Scott, Stiles, and Melissa verbally download all their information to each other about Lydia's condition, why Theo might have attacked her and Stilinski. Stiles says Theo said he didn't want the Sheriff today and told him where to find him. Stiles believes that Theo might know how to save his dad. Scott says he will go with him but Stiles declines saying he doesn't want to fight he wants information. As the sun comes up Theo finds Stiles at Scott's house. There is a line of**_ _ **Mountain Ash**_ _ **across the doorjamb but Theo crosses it with ease since he is a chimera and not supernatural. At the hospital, Natalie Martin holds an admission form that will send Lydia to Eichen House.**_

"So that's how" Lydia groaned internally. She couldn't really blame her mom since she didn't know what was going to happen, but she didn't like it.

 _ **Conrad Fenris**_ _ **assures her that Lydia will safe there because Eichen is a "very different place now." Natalie signs the form. Parrish exits the elevator and calls out to her. He catches up to her and asks about Fenris and where she's sending Lydia. Natalie says she did what she had to. Scott is upstairs listening to Stiles and Theo's conversation. Theo's eyes drift to the top of the stairs as if he senses the Alpha's presence. Stiles throws Scott's torn and bloodied shirt to Theo saying, "You killed my best friend." Theo questions their friendship but Stiles changes the subject and asks if Theo plans to let the Sheriff die. Stiles explains that some toxin is poisoning the Sheriff. Theo denies knowing about it saying he's not "the bad guy." He says he's a "realist" who knows what's coming, what the Dread Doctors created and what Parrish is.**_

"Not the bad guy my ass!" Stiles growled. "Easy son" Claudia said soothingly and rubbed his back.

 _ **Liam and Mason go to the hospital to question Dr. Geyer about any bodies that might have been brought in. They're looking for Hayden. Dr. Geyer says there have been none and asks Mason to take his stepson home since it's 6 in the morning. The boys figure out that they need to find the Nemeton to find Hayden's body. Theo tells Stiles that he saw that Parrish is a**_ _ **Hellhound**_ _ **in Lydia's memories. Theo calls Lydia's catatonic state "collateral damage" and says things are going to get a lot worse. Stiles says he doesn't care. Theo says if the elder Stilinski does survive he won't be Sheriff of anything much longer. Stiles demands to know what's happening to his father. He rushes Theo who easily throws him back on the stairs where Stiles' head hits the wood and he is knocked unconscious. Again he hears his father's voice and sees his face saying "Stiles you need to get up. You've got to get up now." Scott is standing over him as Stiles wakes. He brushes off Scott's extended hand. He wants to know if Scott sensed anything while Theo was talking. Apparently, the chimera's heart rate jumped briefly when Stiles explained that his father was poisoned. Stiles takes this to mean that Theo was surprised to learn the Sheriff is still dying. Scott posits that Theo didn't attack his father and that something else did. In the hospital, Sheriff Stilinski whispers "Chimera" over and over.**_

"That berserker" Chris mumbled.

 _ **Scott follows as Stiles climbs into an SUV and locks the doors. Stiles says he doesn't need any help. Scott says he can help find the clues that Stiles can't and places himself in front of the car. Scott says Stiles needs the whole pack's help and offers to text Liam. Stiles points out that Liam just tried to kill him. Stiles is still upset that Scott believed Theo's lies about how Stiles killed**_ _ **Donovan**_ _ **. Scott points out that Stiles trusted Theo's lies too. Stiles says Scott still doesn't know the real story. Scott says he doesn't need to. He says all that matters right now is Stiles father. He points out that they survived an**_ _ **Alpha Pack**_ _ **, a**_ _ **dark druid**_ _ **, and professional assassins so they can survive Dread Doctors and chimeras too. This last bit sparks a thought in Stiles. He realizes that they're not looking for a missing chimera, they're looking for a missing teenager.**_

"Detective Stiles is on the case" Lydia thought with a smile.

 _ **Mason and Liam go to the school library to look up a map of the ley lines reasoning that the Nemeton would be at one of the spots where the lines cross. Liam flashes back to his fight with Scott the night before reliving much of it as he walks through the ruined library. Liam explains that finding the Nemeton is a near impossible task because the supernatural tree has to want to be found in order for people to see it. Parrish watches as Lydia is loaded into an ambulance. Natalie gets in with her. Parrish promises that he'll find a way to get her out of Eichen House even if he has to break through the walls. Fenris wishes him good luck with doing that. As he gets into the ambulance his reflection shows that it is not Fenris at all, somehow Dr. Valack was able to change his appearance to look like the other Doctor.**_

"Of course it was that creep" Allison glared.

 _ **Orderly Schrader is behind the wheel of the ambulance and points out how attractive Lydia is. Valack points out that Lydia could shatter his skull with her voice is someone taught her how.**_

"And don't get me started on how her boyfriend would do to him" Allison said with a smirk.

 _ **In Stiles room, he and Scott review police calls about a missing sophomore named**_ _ **Noah Patrick**_ _ **who didn't come home last night. Noah is on the list of natural chimera's that were potential subjects for the Dread Doctors. Scott breaks into Noah's locker at school and retrieves a shirt so they can track his scent. Malia shows up. Stiles doesn't seem happy but Scott says he should be calling everyone. Malia points out that she knows what Noah looks like. Noah runs through a warehouse loading bay, looking over his shoulder as if something is chasing him. As he hides behind a concrete barrier, he hears and then sees the Dread Doctors approaching.**_

"Isn't this just great? The dread idiots had to go after the one we were after" Liam groaned.

 _ **Mason and Liam wander the woods. They've found the intersection of ley lines on the map but can't find the Nemeton. Liam laments that he couldn't save Hayden. Mason says no one could and recounts all Melissa's efforts to keep her alive. Liam expresses guilt over trying to kill Scott but Mason points out that there were "like 800 extenuating circumstances" including but not limited to losing Hayden, fear, anger, and Theo. He also points out that Theo is a werewolf and there was a supermoon. This sparks an figures if the stump acts as a supernatural beacon then Liam should be able to see it if he looks with his werewolf eyes. He does and spots the tree. Mason still can't see it until Liam puts his arm around him and guides him to look in the exact spot.**_

"Why didn't you ever think of that?" Allison asks her best friend. "I'll text future me and let you know" Lydia rolled her eyes.

 _ **Scott, Stiles, and Malia arrive at the warehouse where Noah was hiding. Malia says she and Stiles "kind of broke up." Scott says he and Stiles broke up too. Scott says Malia can talk to him if she wants. She says she's only there to help find the kid and save Stiles' dad. Malia catches Noah's scent. Dr. Geyer confronts Melissa about the weird stuff that goes on in the hospital the latest being how the Sheriff seems to be dying for no medical reason. He says nothing phases her and he believes she knows something. Melissa says knowing something is different from understanding it. She says she could tell him really bizarre things but nothing that would save the Sheriff.**_

"Sadly" Melissa muttered bitterly. She wanted to help her friend in any way possible but it seems she had no way of doing it.

 _ **Mason and Liam count the bodies around the tree but only find four. Hayden isn't among them. Liam believes this means Hayden is alive. Mason suggests they get the cops and at that moment headlights flash on and Hayden leads a group of deputies in claiming she found the bodies.**_

"Well thanks for getting it done for us Hayden. Next time let us know so we don't look like killers?" Mason said with a smile. "Lay off man" Liam growled and slapped his arm gently.

 _ **Scott, Stiles, and Malia are searching the tunnels for Noah. Scott realizes that these tunnels look like the tunnels they searched under the water plant when they were looking for Hayden and Liam. Stiles doesn't care. He goes off on Scott about wasting time while his dad is dying. Noah jumps out of the shadows and attacks Stiles, driving his head into the concrete and knocking him unconscious. Once again Stiles hears his father's voice urging him to get up. He remembers being a child at his mother's funeral and his father telling him that he would have to get up from where he was kneeling by her casket. In the memory, Sheriff Stilinski tells his son that, "You still got me."**_

Noah's grip around his family tightened when he felt his son go stiff.

 _ **Scott helps Stiles to his feet. Malia and Noah fight but she gets the better of him quickly. He transforms and begs for mercy. Noah warns them that the Dread Doctors are coming. They approach slowly from the tunnel. Noah runs away but Stiles catches him. The chimera says he doesn't remember anything when he is transformed. Stiles explains that the boy clawed his father half to death and he's now dying from poisoning. Scott and Malia plan to stand their ground and give Stiles and Noah time to escape back to the hospital to save the Sheriff. Scott assures Malia that they'll be okay. She is unconvinced saying they will die. She wonders how he can be so sure they won't and he says, "Because you're not the only one that I called."**_ _ **Chris Argent**_ _ **steps into the tunnel and tells them both to get down.**_

"Dad I so love you" Allison grinned at her father who smiled. "I love you too sweetheart" he said and ruffled her hair.

 _ **He fires his high-powered rifle at the Dread Doctors but**_ _ **The Pathologist**_ _ **projects an electromagnetic shield from his fingertips which deflects the bullets. Argent keeps firing and tells Scott and Malia to run. Stiles and Noah run into a locked gate. Noah offers to transform and break through it but warns Stiles to get back because he tends to lose control. Noah grunts with effort as large, bony spikes grow out of his arms. He slashes through the chain holding the gate and opens it. Stiles realizes that one of Noah's bony spikes is broken and covered in blood.**_

"Bone marrow poisoning" Lydia realizes.

 _ **Melissa runs to Dr. Geyer and explains that there is a piece of bone somewhere inside the Sheriff that is causing his decline. She says Stilinski is being poisoned by bone marrow and even though she knows it makes no sense she says the doctor has to open him up. Geyer complies, they find the small piece of bone and remove it. Scott, Stiles, Malia, and Argent arrive at the hospital. Melissa smiles as they come in signaling that everything is all right. The Sheriff wakes up and reaches out for Stiles. He says, "It's okay Stiles. You still got me."**_

"Oh thank god" Noah heard his son whisper and finally relaxed against him. "You always have me son" he whispered back and kissed his head.

 _ **Theo and Hayden track Noah to the warehouse. Hayden wants to know how she was able to find him and Theo explains that she is part**_ _ **Werejaguar**_ _ **and Noah is part**_ _ **Berserker**_ _ **and that they are drawn to each other.**_

"SO I'm like the crazy cat lady. That's good to know" Hayden rolled her eyes sarcastically.

 _ **She questions why she is there with Theo and he points out that he saved her life. Hayden senses that Noah is dying and says that means the Dread Doctors will find him. Noah is gasping and bleeding mercury in another part of the warehouse as the doctors close in. Theo laments that they could have used Noah. Hayden asks why and Theo ignores the question. They notice a symbol clawed into a piece of nearby metal. It is one circle inside a larger circle, the same as Scott McCall's tattoo. Theo explains that it's the symbol of Scott as Alpha and his pack.**_

"A declaration of war as well" Peter grins in excitement.

 _ **In the future, Valack says the symbol was a promise to reunite his pack. He asks Lydia if he's managed to put them back together again and if they'll be coming for her. They hear a gate buzzer down the hall. Lydia says someone is coming but it's not Scott. Theo leads Josh, Tracy, and Corey down the hallway. Valack warns Theo that Lydia is safe inside because the Dread Doctors don't know how important she is yet. Tracy knocks him into the wall. Theo examines Lydia's trepanation hole and scoffs that Eichen House calls itself a medical establishment. He orders the other Chimera's to pick her up and take her out. Valack questions what a pack of chimeras would want with a**_ _ **Banshee**_ _ **. Theo says he doesn't want a Banshee but Lydia will lead him to a**_ _ **Hellhound**_ _ **.**_

"Why a hell hound?" Lydia thought.

 _ **Parrish arrives and burns through the wire mesh gate with his hands. His eyes glow and his body is on fire. It appears he now has lower fangs. Dr. Valack says if Theo wanted a Hellhound now he's got one.**_

"Time for some major ass kicking for the bastard…well more ass kicking" Liam shrugged. __


	82. 5-12

_**Beacon Hills Sheriff's dispatch radios an 11-5 at the communication towers off Cypress Lane. The request comes from "Beacon Hills Telecom." Hearing the report,**_ _ **Deputy Clark**_ _ **radios back that she is in the area and will check it out. Dispatch reports a technician was sent over an hour ago and has not reported back. Clark has her sister in the Sheriff's patrol vehicle. She's been driving Hayden to work each night due to her three-day "disappearance". Arriving at the location, Clark tells Hayden to say in the truck while she goes inside to investigate.**_

"And you stayed?" Liam gave Hayden a surprised look. "Only because it was my sister" she rolled her eyes.

 _ **Clark finds the tech's truck still running and heads inside the building. Hayden, still in the car, hears someone whisper, "Help me."**_

"So much for the good little sister" Mason snorted making Hayden scowl at him.

 _ **She gets out of the vehicle and catches**_ _ **Liam**_ _ **'s reflection in the glass. Startled, she swings a fist at him. He ducks. As they talk, Liam explains that he's sent Hayden several texts and she's been ignoring him. She makes a show of complaining that he left her for dead but he points out that she was actually dead. She tells him to go.**_

"When you're in a losing argument, always tell the other to go away. It's a sure fire way of winning" Mason said nodding his head like a wise sage giving advice. Hayden climbed over Liam and slapped Mason over the head earning her a surprised glare.

 _ **Deputy Clark finds the technician laying on the floor with a slashed neck and covered in blood. He whispers "Still here." As he tries to say more, he gasps and dies. Clark looks up in time to see an enormous clawed hand rising from the shadows. The claws pierce a steam pipe and a cloud engulfs the creature beyond. White eyes glow in the mist. Clark drops her flashlight at the creature bounds past her. Making its way to the surface, it throws a gate in the direction of Liam and Hayden. Both take off running. Clark makes it outside and screams for Hayden to run.**_

"What….the fuck was that!?" Stiles gasped, now recovered from his previous emotional state. "The success" Chris said through narrowed eyes and gritted teeth.

 _ **The teens run through the woods. The creature is close behind. Coming to a ravine, Liam seems at a loss but Hayden says they can jump it. She makes it across with room to spare. Liam barely makes the other side and is hanging on to the edge of the cliff. The creature catches up, leaps the ravine and comes at them from the other side. Liam pulls Hayden down and they both fall to the ravine bottom.**_

"Liam!" Hayden exclaims and continuously slaps Liam on his arm. "Hey! Ow ow ow ow! Stop that!" he gasps and pushes her away. "Never pull me down a ravine again!" Hayden glared making Liam deadpan.

 _ **A few minutes later Hayden slaps Liam awake. She says she's just making sure he's alive. Liam explains that he can't move his legs and thinks his back may be broken. Hayden asks if he'll heal and, hearing that he will eventually, starts to walk away. Liam wants her to stay but she says she needs to make sure her sister is all right. She also points out that Liam pulled her off a cliff and she's lucky that she healed. Liam says he saved her life to which she responds, "This time." Liam asks who saved her last time and she tells him it was**_ _ **Theo**_ _ **.**_

"Technically Theo brought you back from the dead" Corey pointed out. "I think that can be termed as saving her life" Mason added.

 _ **The prison transport driver who was attacked while taking**_ _ **Donovan**_ _ **to jail remains hospitalized.**_ _ **Tracy**_ _ **and Theo enter his room. Recognizing Tracy from the night of the attack the officer reaches for his call button but Theo moves it out of reach. He asks Tracy if she wants him to kill the man for her. Tracy says her father defended someone on death row and she knows how lethal injection works. She pierces the IV bag with a claw and injects**_ _ **Kanima**_ _ **venom into it. The man dies within a few seconds. Tracy smiles slightly.**_

"She's gone totally off the rails hasn't she" Allison asked. "She is a Kanima, I think Theo's own character is rubbing off on her through the pack bond. Like Gerard and Jackson" Scott said. Allison noded, "Probably."

 _ **Deputy Parrish shows Scott the video from the attack at the Beacon Hills Telecom site. They can clearly see the large creature exiting the building. They discuss the fact that it's big and too fast for anyone to get a good look at it.**_ _ **Scott**_ _ **realizes it's the last chimera. Inside they use a black light to show the mercury fumes rising off the scene of the attack. They wonder why it would kill a random tech and Scott suggests that maybe the creature just likes to kill.**_

"Stating the obvious there Scotty?" Peter smirked. "Only saying what I see. I have had experience with rabid killing monsters before" Scott said with a pointed glance at Peter making his smirk vanish.

 _ **Scott asks**_ _ **Parrish**_ _ **how many bodies he sees when he dreams about the**_ _ **Nemeton**_ _ **. Parrish says, "Everyone." Scott tries his hand at creating a "murder board" like**_ _ **Stiles**_ _ **. He has pictures of all the known chimera and some red yarn. He ends up pinning a strand of yarn to his sleeve and, when he pulls it free, it pulls off much of his work.**_

"It takes so much more that yarn and pictures to make a murder board" Stiles laughed. "Oh yeah? What else?" Scott asked. "An eye to see the smallest details and connections" Stiles said with a twinkle in his eyes.

 _ **Stiles has been asleep in his father's hospital room. He wakes to find the Sheriff gone. He wanders the halls in search of him until he reaches the morgue. His father is looking at the sheet-covered body of Donovan. Stiles enters.**_ _ **Chris Argent**_ _ **opens a safe and removes the large stalk of**_ _ **Yellow Wolfsbane**_ _ **he found.**_ _ **Sheriff Stilinski**_ _ **says the story Theo told about Donovan's death was true except it didn't happen to Theo. Stiles says yes but he couldn't tell anyone. While his father indicates he would have believed that it was self-defense, Stiles isn't sure that it was. He admits that he wanted Donovan dead. His father points out that there is a long way between wanting it and actually doing it. Stiles says he was worried about what a judge might think, his father says to hell with the judge. The Sheriff lays out quite clearly that it was self-defense and says he would destroy every piece of evidence to protect his son. He says he would burn the whole Sheriff's Station to the ground.**_

Noah smiles at his son who smiles back at him.

 _ **They push Donovan's body back into the morgue locker as Scott exits the elevator. He overhears the Sheriff say that arresting**_ _ **Kira**_ _ **was a mistake. Without a word, Scott leaves the pair to talk on their own. The Sheriff says he's learning how to bend. Stiles questions if the guilt over his actions will just go away. His father explains that it won't. It is a burden Stiles must learn to bear. Saying such fatal mistakes are common in law enforcement, the Sheriff says it may not truly be okay again until there is a counterbalance. He suggests saving a life might help if only for a moment. He explains Stiles emotional state like this:**_

" _ **The real conflict you're having now is between your head and your heart. Your head knows the only crime you committed was surviving but your heart still thinks it was murder. I guess you've got to get your heart to catch up to your head."**_

 _ **Stiles says he feels more than guilt. He feels like he lost something and he can't get it back. The Sheriff agrees saying he won't get it back entirely but can get a little bit by forgiving himself. He suggests he start by forgiving Scott. They hug.**_

"Yeah that would be much appreciable" Scott chuckled earning him an eye roll from Stiles.

 _ **Outside Sinema, Theo is waiting for**_ _ **Josh**_ _ **. He asks him how much he took. Josh says he had a lot but that it didn't have any effect. Theo explains that he heals too fast for drugs to work. Josh says maybe Theo should have left him dead. Theo hands him a pair of jumper cables and attaches them to a battery. Josh powers up with lightning flowing from his hands. Josh looks happy. Theo senses Liam in the parking lot watching them. Scott rides out to the**_ _ **Tate Family**_ _ **farm because**_ _ **Malia**_ _ **hasn't been answering her phone. She refuses to help him saying that he won't want her help after what she's planning to do. He asks if it has something to do with the fact that he can hear two heartbeats inside the house and that hers is beating rapidly. She sends him away. Inside,**_ _ **Braeden**_ _ **has a former Soviet Special Forces agent in a wrestling hold on the floor. They question him about the whereabouts of the**_ _ **Desert Wolf**_ _ **and, after bribing him with $10 thousand, he tells them that she was last seen at the Canadian border. He reports that she won't fly. This is partly to avoid the surveillance cameras but also because she has a hostage, an "animal doctor." Malia realizes she's holding**_ _ **Dr. Deaton**_ _ **hostage.**_

"So Malia is the one who would save Deaton" Scott sighed in relief. "What makes you think I would save him" Malia challenged. "Because we know you Mali. At least the future you. You won't leave a man for dead" Stiles said with a smile. Malia leaned back in her chair and looked at her lap, a small smile on her face.

 _ **At school, Liam explains about seeing Theo and Josh at**_ _ **Sinema**_ _ **.**_ _ **Mason**_ _ **puts together that Theo is building his own pack of dead chimeras. Liam says something is wrong with Hayden since she came back. Mason wonders if that's what happens when they die, they come back all evil.**_ _ **Corey**_ _ **walks in with a big smile and asks them if they're at school to help with the library clean up. Hoping to find out why he's alive again, they decide to follow him. Mason awkwardly tries to talk to Corey about coming back from the dead. Mason suggest the resurrection must have been difficult to explain to his parents but Corey says they don't pay that much attention to him anyway. They are apparently glad they can sue the hospital now. Corey asks Mason out.**_

"From complaining about his parents to asking the dude out? Smooth Bryant. Very smooth" Stiles smirked while Corey looked at anywhere but Mason with a blush.

 _ **Stiles is getting a snack from the vending machine as EMT's roll a gurney, with the body of the Telecom worker, passed him in the hospital. Later, Stiles uses his father's laptop to look up the incident report on the creature's attack. The Sheriff says he was hoping to Stiles wouldn't find out about it. He says something seems to be missing from the surveillance video. In**_ _ **Eichen House**_ _ **,**_ _ **Lydia Martin**_ _ **wakes up and rises from her bed. She hears tapping. When she looks back, she's still lying on the bed asleep.**_

"Astral projection? I didn't know I could do that" Lydia mumbled. "Many normal humans are able to do that. You're a banshee, the harbinger of death. It would make no sense if you couldn't" Laura saidd with a shrug.

 _ **She walks down the hallway in her dream and enters the room where she witnessed her grandmother's trepanation as a child. The bathtub is now full of black goo and a figure rises from the muck. It then, herky jerky, steps out of the tub and crawls along the floor. Lydia turns to leave but the door slams and locks. Behind her the figure stands up. It is**_ _ **Meredith Walker**_ _ **. She says, "Don't be afraid." Lydia begins to scream.**_

"Yeah Lydia how can you be afraid of a giant mass of black goo which was crawling towards you in a locked mental asylum room!?" Stiles mock gasped. "Shut up Stilinski" Lydia rolled her eyes.

 _ **Deputy Clark is filling out her incident report and taking some ribbing for it from one of her fellow deputies.**_

 _ **The report reads:**_

" _ **Deputies were attacked by an enormous animal of undetermined species with possible pituitary gland disorder, at the Beacon Hills transmission tower. Beacon Hills Telecom requested an 11-5 at the transmission towers off Cypress Lane at 19:27. I was told a technician had been sent out over an hour ago that had not reported back. I proceeded to the towers with a ride along, my sister Hayden Clark.**_

 _ **We arrived at the transmission towers at 27:25, upon arrival I found a telecom truck parked outside the towers its lights on and still running. I proceeded to the car to check for the driver, he was nowhere to be found. I turned off …"**_

 _ **She also lists the creature as 7 feet, 8 inches tall and 376 pounds. Hayden is sitting in the Sheriff's station. When her sister is called away, she senses or hears Theo in the building. She heads to the jail cell where he is waiting. He asks what she saw during the attack and Hayden says it looked exactly like the painting, just like Theo said it would. Theo asks if she's told anyone else and Hayden says no because she didn't think he would want her too. She questions why but Theo says she doesn't need to know. He assures her that the creature is going to kill a lot of people but won't kill them if they're together.**_

"Right because a pack of Chimera's would be a safe from another chimera that loves to kill any and all things living" Stiles rolled his eyes. "Well they are all Chimeras" Hayden pointed out. "Yeah but we saw Theo kill one. And I'm very sure that this one is on another level when it comes to killing" Stiles said.

 _ **Deputy Clark texts Hayden, "WHAT PART OF DON'T MOVE WAS UNCLEAR?"**_

"Busted" Liam snickers earning himself a punch on the arm.

 _ **Theo asks if there is anything else Hayden wants to tell him. She says not really. He grabs her arm and warns her that she can't hide anything from him.**_

"She absolutely can if she wants to!" Liam growled and threw his shoe at the still unconscious Theo who was just starting to stir.

 _ **Scott is in his bathroom doctoring his wound. The damage from where Theo clawed him on the supermoon looks deep and ragged, an almost a hand-sized hole in his chest. Stiles shows up and mentions that it is not yet healed. Scott brushes it off saying sometimes it takes longer. Stiles has come looking for Scott's help much to his friend's delight. They go over the footage of the attack and realize that no one other than the tech and Deputy Clark entered the building on the day of the attack. They surmise that there must be another entrance. The cleanup of the school library is wrapping up and Corey is about to leave. Liam asks Mason what he plans to do to find out more about the risen chimeras. Mason says he doesn't know but he's got a date with Corey on Saturday.**_

"And that's what's important here" Mason says seriously.

 _ **Theo enters the school and hears a locker close. He senses Corey is camouflaged in the hallway. He calls him out and Corey appears. He chastises him for coming and helping with the cleanup saying he doesn't have to be normal or nice anymore. Corey says he's not going to hurt "them" meaning Mason and Liam. Theo claims he doesn't want him to. He says he wants to protect them.**_

"Sure you do" Liam rolled his eyes.

 _ **Theo then threatens the teen saying Corey will come with him and do everything he says because he knows the other boy doesn't want to die again.**_

"Isn't he the perfect Alpha?" Peter said in mock awe. "I hate to say this but he makes Peter look like a better Alpha" Laura whispered to her brother who sighed.

 _ **At the Telecom building, Stiles and Scott find a grate in the floor. It is under a heavy piece of equipment. Scott tries to lift it but can't. His werewolf strength fails him. With Stiles' help they are able to lift it and clear the hole in the floor. Mason is texting Corey but getting no response. Liam can sense that Theo was at the school and that he and Corey left together. Mason suggests that Liam should tell Scott about the risen chimera situation. Liam doesn't know how to start. He doesn't think Scott would even want to talk to him after he tried to kill him during the supermoon. Mason says if he starts with "sorry" the rest probably won't matter.**_

"True. Or the rest Scott won't hear because he would blow him off" Hayden hummed making Liam sigh and Mason hold his chuckle back.

 _ **Nurse Cross is cajoling a catatonic Lydia. She believes the girl is faking to get something. She says they can keep someone as "dangerous" as Lydia locked up for the rest of her life. Lydia and Meredith are watching from across the room. Meredith explains that Lydia needs to wake up or her friends will die. She says Lydia knows how to fight, that she learned more and faster than any ordinary person would. She then promises to teach Lydia how to use her voice as a weapon.**_

"This should be interesting to watch" Lydia hummed.

 _ **Scott and Stiles descend to the tunnel below the Telecom building. They find more mercury on the floor and two Latin words scrawled on the floor, Damnatio Memoriae.**_

"Condemnation of memory?" Chris thought to himself.

 _ **Scott asks Stiles to hold a light so he can take a picture. The light slips away as Stiles collapses to the floor. Tracy has scratched him with Kanima venom.**_

"Why me?" Stiles groaned. "Look on the bright side. She didn't kill you" Lydia pointed out. Stiles looked at her for a good minute in silence making her squirm slightly before saying, "True."

 _ **Tracy and Scott trade blows. Josh shows up sparking behind Scott and Stiles shouts a warning. Scott maneuvers Tracy into Josh. Josh is paralyzed by her claws and she is knocked to the floor by his electricity. Scott turns to the wall of the tunnel and growls, red eyes glowing. Corey becomes visible and visibly terrified.**_

"That's the pack? Hah!" Peter laughed. "They are all new at this, give em a break" Derek rolled his eyes.

 _ **Theo steps in and says his pack isn't ready to take on an alpha. He takes a dig at Corey saying that Scott can smell fear. Corey is shaken and points out that Scott has fangs. Scott is stunned having just learned that the formerly dead chimeras are alive again. Theo says he found some new friends because he doesn't take rejection well. Corey and Tracy carry Josh away. Theo stays behind and viciously cracks the floor wiping out the words etched there. He explains that he's on Scott's side against the creature. He says they're going to go back to school and pretend like they're normal teenagers but at night they'll be fighting for their lives. Theo says the creature is not a chimera. Scott points out that there is a kid underneath but Theo says not anymore.**_

Scott's eyes narrowed slightly. What would make a teen age boy not be a teenage boy anymore?

 _ **Liam heads to the**_ _ **Beacon Hills Animal Clinic**_ _ **to find Scott. Hayden finds him there and they make up. She asks if he really almost killed Scott to save her. He blames it on the supermoon but admits he did. She admits that something is different with her now. She says nothing feels the same, nothing feels right except for him. They kiss.**_

"If that isn't romantic I don't know what is" Allison says, sniffling against Scott's shoulder while the said teens blushed a bright red.

 _ **Scott helps a paralyzed Stiles sit up. Stiles remembers the worlds on the floor and explains that Damnatio Memoriae means "condemnation of memory." He surmises that it means the**_ _ **Dread Doctors**_ _ **didn't create a new creature but resurrected one.**_

Chris' eyes widened as he finally understood what exactly the beast was.

 _ **Chris goes to see**_ _ **Gerard Argent**_ _ **. The old man is still sick and leaking black goo. Chris produces the yellow wolfsbane and tosses it on the floor. Gerard falls on it and begins eating the flowers. He spits in his hand and, instead of black goo, it's bright red blood. Gerard is disgusted that Chris went to all this trouble just to save Scott. Chris mentions the Dread Doctors and Gerard seems to know quite a bit about them. He surmises they've succeeded in resurrecting**_ _ **The Beast of Gevaudan**_ _ **.**_

"You mean that thing is not a myth!?" Allison asks, remembering about what she had learned when she saw herself study about the family way back in the first parts of these memories. "All myths have a source" Chris muttered.

 _ **Scott draws the inner circle of his pack symbol in the dirt on the tunnel floor. He tells Stiles that if Theo has his own pack, they need to bring their pack back together. Stiles points out that Kira is currently battling a homicidal fox spirit inside her, Malia isn't speaking to either of them, Lydia is stuck in Eichen House and Liam tried to kill Scott. Scott says they'll bring them back one by one. He then has Stiles finish the pack symbol by drawing the outer circle. Scott then helps his friend to his feet and they leave the tunnel. Stiles mentions again how he still hates Scott's tattoo.**_

"Get over it" Scott snorts.

 _ **Kira and**_ _ **Noshiko Yukimura**_ _ **arrive in the New Mexico desert. Kira mentions they're looking for**_ _ **Skinwalkers**_ _ **. Noshiko says the skinwalkers will find them. Hands reach out from the desert floor and three people climb up out of the sand. They are Native Americans. Noshiko tells Kira to take out her sword and she does.**_

"I wonder why they would go out to them" Peter thought while his sister had already figured it out.


	83. 5-13

_**In the New Mexico desert,**_ _ **Kira**_ _ **and**_ _ **Noshiko Yukimura**_ _ **face three. Kira manages to hold them off for a bit with her sword. She is blinded by some dust and ends up pinned to the rocks with a spear through her shoulder.**_

Scott winced slightly, "that's gotta hurt" he mumbled. "Hope it wasn't poisoned" Pete said with a smile making theothers roll their eyes.

 _ **The Skinwalkers say Kira is frightened of herself. They say they will try to help her. If they can't, if Kira fails, she will be forced to stay with them and become a Skinwalker like them forever.**_

"Woah woah woah! What!?" Lydia gaped. "Well it isn't a bad offer. If they can't help her control herself, she is threat to everyone around her. Safest thing would be for her to join them" Talia explained when she received looks of shock and disbelief.

 _ **Stiles Stilinski**_ _ **is outside**_ _ **Scott McCall**_ _ **'s house working on his Jeep. Inside,**_ _ **Liam**_ _ **is waiting when Scott comes downstairs. Liam is eager to tell Scott about the resurrected chimera and**_ _ **Theo**_ _ **'s pack but Scott says he already knows. He is surprised and pleased to learn that**_ _ **Hayden**_ _ **is back from the dead. Scott is in a hurry to find Kira. He says he and Stiles are heading to Shiprock, New Mexico. Liam wants to help but Scott says no. He tells him not to do anything until he gets back.**_

"Ouch man" Stiles winced. "That was cold" Mason winced as well while Liam squirmed in his chair. Scott meanwhile sighed and looked at Liam apologetically which he didn't really notice.

 _ **Scott explains to Stiles that he will eventually allow Liam to help but after the way Liam came after him, the look in his eyes, he is hesitant. Stiles says if Scott wants to get the band back together "you don't leave out the drummer." The Jeep is running again. Scott notices the back seat is loaded down with bottles of what appears to be anti-freeze. Stiles explains that there is a very minor leak. As they pull onto the road a steady stream of fluid pours out from beneath the Jeep.**_

" 'minor' " Laura quotes making Stiles roll his eyes.

 _ **Theo and**_ _ **Tracy Stewart**_ _ **pursue**_ _ **The Beast of Gevaudan**_ _ **to the high school Theo says they're not trying to catch it. Inside, the message "**_ _ **Damnatio Memoriae**_ _ **" is scrawled across the lockers but can only be seen using Theo's werewolf eyes. Theo says the messages are the means by which the Dread Doctors hope to get the beast to remember who it was. Tracy points out that it's just another chimera with a kid inside. Theo says the Dread Doctors don't care. They just needed a body because they couldn't resurrect the beast out of thin air. The teenager inside is just a side effect. Theo says the beast is probably unaware that it becomes human during the day.**_

"So he's living a double life like some secret agent?" Mason asks with a hint of excitement. "Yeah! Secret agent of death, but yeah" Peter says with a snort.

 _ **Tracy explains that she read about the beast killing 113 people. Theo says it was closer to 500 according to the Dread Doctors. They hear the beast around the corner in the school hallway. Tracy flicks her claws and heads that way. She finds**_ _ **The Pathologist**_ _ **and attacks. She is knocked into a locker and is downed with little effort.**_ _ **The Surgeon**_ _ **shows up and tells Theo to leave, that he already has his pack. Theo complains that it wasn't enough. Getting a pack didn't make him an Alpha, that he's not even a real werewolf.**_

"Tad bit greedy aren't ya?" Corey looked at Theo who was slowly getting on his chair. The struggling boy just growled in response.

 _ **The Beast comes around the far corner of the hallway. It is carrying a severed head in its hand. It growls so loudly that both Tracy and Theo must cover their ears, the lockers shake and the lights flicker. When they growling stops the beast and the doctors are gone.**_

"Not just a giant killer, the thing is a noisy bugger and very fast" Stiles hummed. "It would seem so" Noah mumbled.

 _ **In the desert, a Skinwalker tends to Kira's wounds. She explains that Kira was afraid to use the sword in their earlier confrontation. Noshiko enters and explains that the Skinwalkers will test Kira tonight and that it won't be easy. She says fixing Kira could take months or years. Kira balks at this thinking of her friends and Scott. Noshiko explains that Kira is**_ _ **Kitsune**_ _ **and has centuries to live. She warns her daughter that if the fox spirit inside her becomes too powerful it will consume her to the point that she no longer exists.**_

"I feel like she should think of herself right now. We can think of other ways to help ourselves" Malia muttered, surprising a good amount of people in the room who didn't expect her to not think of herself right now.

 _ **Kira is angry. She doesn't want to spend months or years learning from a couple of "crazy, half-naked women carrying spears and wearing animal pelts."**_

The room erupted in snorts and short laughter.

 _ **Noshiko points out that Kira carries a sword and wears a leather jacket meaning they are not so different from the Skinwalkers.**_

This time there was much louder and lasting laughter from everyone. "Ten points to mama Yukimura" Stiles wiped his tears.

 _ **Kira worries that if she doesn't pass the test she will have to become a Skinwalker. Noshiko says it would keep her alive and might be the only thing that can save her. Kira points out that all the myths about Skinwalkers say they are evil. Noshiko says the legends say the same thing about Kitsune. Stiles' Jeep is overheating again. Scott suggests they add more anti-freeze but Stiles says they can just turn on the heat to vent the engine. Scott's been reading about Damnatio Memoriae. It was a Roman practice the government decreed to destroy the images of the damned. This included removing their names from inscriptions and chiseled their faces off statues. Being forgotten was a punishment worse than death.**_

"Well that is a harsh punishment. But then again if it was a ruthless killer, the people would always remember him as something else. Maybe no one would remember their name, but they would be remembered by their methods of killing in history" Stiles said receiving nods from various people in the room.

 _ **Scott says a court ordered Damnatio Memoriae against a particularly heinous serial killer of children known as The Demon Tailor. He lured children into his shop in Paris where he would kill them, boil them and eat them.**_

"I think I'm going to be sick" Allison moaned.

 _ **The court ordered all the records destroyed and to this day no one knows his real name. Stiles concludes that the Dread Doctors have resurrected a killer so bad that he was literally erased from history. Scott points out that the killer became a werewolf. Which makes him a better killer.**_

"Or he was already a werewolf and the people knew about it. Reason why they erased him from history" Chris says catching a lot of attention. "You know about the beast don't you" Melissa said in a calm voice. Chris nodded, "I have heard the stories. And before anyone asks, I think it will be revealed here. If it isn't, I'll fill you in later" he said seeing the looks on the kid's faces.

 _ **The PA at**_ _ **Beacon Hills High School**_ _ **announces that all of Mr. O'Quinn's classes have been cancelled and that the teacher is missing. Liam sees Hayden with Theo and bows up. Mason urges him not to do anything, to not get involved. Theo and Hayden walk away. Liam is seething. Stiles says**_ _ **Malia**_ _ **isn't speaking to him or anyone. Scott says, according to her scent, he thinks she's planning to kill her mother and has the help of**_ _ **Braeden**_ _ **. Stiles' Jeep runs out of gas.**_

"You have gotten better" Peter noted. "I had a long time and some practice I suppose" Scott shrugged. Peter nodded and turned to the screen. Internally, he was kinda weirdly proud of how far Scott had come from the weird awkward teen he had seen him as at the beginning.

 _ **Mrs. Finch**_ _ **is teaching about Co-dominance. She explains that it is "A relationship among alleles where both alleles contribute to the phenotype of the heterozygote." She then tells the students in the first and third rows to turn around. The person directly behind them will be their lab partners. Liam turns and finds Hayden directly behind him.**_ _ **Corey**_ _ **turns to find a young woman but suddenly her chair slides out of frame and Mason slips into the spot.**_

"Guess cupid is in his office today" Stiles chuckled.

 _ **In math class Mrs. Flemming says it seems suspicious that Scott and Stiles are both sick on the same day. She also comments that**_ _ **Lydia Martin**_ _ **wasn't in class either. Theo says she won't be back for a while due to medical issues.**_

"All thanks to you asshole" Stiles growled at the Theo in the room who shrugged like he couldn't care less.

 _ **Theo spots Malia in the hallway. They stare at each other briefly before Malia continues on her way. In Lydia's dream she walks up to**_ _ **Valack**_ _ **'s old cell.**_ _ **Meredith Walker**_ _ **appears and explains how Valack used a recording of Lydia's voice to crack the glass of his cell. She demonstrates and the cell shatters.**_

"Banshee screams are nothing to trifle with" Hayden muttered while Liam nodded.

 _ **Mrs. Finch continues with the lesson explaining that, in co-dominance, neither allele is recessive and that both phenotypes are expressed. She asks for an example and Corey volunteers that people with AB blood types are an example of co-dominance. Their lab assignment is to determine, using genetic information, if two babies were switched at the hospital. Hayden asks Liam if he plans to talk to her. He points out that she's hanging out with a total psycho. He reminds her that Theo tried to get him to kill Scott and then did it himself. She points out that Theo brought her back to life. Hayden says she doesn't want to die again and Scott's not up to the task. He doesn't even know what's coming but Theo does. Mrs. Finch interrupts their discussion.**_

"Sorry" Hayden apologized honestly. Scott smiled and waved her worry off, "it's okay."

 _ **In the locker room, Corey asks**_ _ **Mason**_ _ **out. Mason refuses pointing out all the weirdness. He says Corey is with the bad buys. Corey says there won't be good guys or bad guys, only those who live and those who die. Corey persists. They end up kissing and Mason reconsiders the idea of the date.**_

"That's how you ask a guy out" Stiles laughed. "Aww did you want someone special to propose to you?" Laura cooed. Stiles gaped like a fish while his friends laughed, Lydia being the loudest.

 _ **Kira spear wound has healed. Noshiko says if the only way to save Kira's life is to leave her with the Skinwalkers then she will do it. Kira worries she will fail the test. Noshiko grabs her sword and says "Don't fail." With a brief look back, Kira walks off into the desert to face the skinwalkers. Stiles and Scott find a gas station. It's closed but Scott breaks the chain on the gas pump and Stiles slips a 20-dollar bill through the doors to pay for what they take. As they fill up their gas can, Stiles explains how**_ _ **Donovan**_ _ **died.**_

 _ **Stiles: There's a pin. There's one little metal pin attached to the scaffolding. He was trying to pull me down.**_

 _ **Scott: He was trying to kill you.**_

 _ **Stiles: Yeah, so then I pulled the pin and all these metal braces came down and one of them just went right through him.**_

 _ **Scott: Why didn't you think you could tell me?**_

 _ **Stiles: It was just the way you were looking at me that night. You know, you were standing there with a wrench in your hand. You were looking at me like I just bashed you in the head with it. You know, like I'd broken your sacred rule and that's it. There's no going back.**_

 _ **Scott: I know the difference.**_

 _ **Stiles: What?**_

 _ **Scott: I know what self-defense is.**_

 _ **They leave it there and start walking back to the Jeep.**_

Scott looked at Stiles and the two shared a grin, the problems between future them now fully buried.

 _ **Lydia is still dreaming. She's now in the library at school and finds that all the senior signatures are now missing from the bookshelves. Meredith shows up and says everyone's name is gone. Lydia wonders how she can save them. Meredith tells her not to be afraid. Suddenly Meredith is on the floor down below and Theo is holding her down. He bends her neck back and slashes her throat as Lydia screams.**_

 _ **A light blows out in Lydia's cell at**_ _ **Eichen House**_ _ **. Schrader and Nurse Cross hear the sound and come running. They both report hearing an explosion and, before that, a scream.**_

"For the scream to have effects while still catatonic? You are a strong one" Talia said with a smile. Lydia nodded and returned her smile.

 _ **Stiles wakes a sleeping Scott as they come within view of Shiprock. There is a massive storm brewing right over the mountain with lightening and roiling clouds. Stiles accelerated toward the mountain. Kira finds herself in darkness. An**_ _ **Oni**_ _ **warrior coalesces out of the darkness and attacks. Scott and Stiles are out of the Jeep and continue their conversation about Donovan's death.**_

 _ **Scott: I don't know why I believed him. I don't know why we didn't just keep talking that night. Five more minutes and we would have figured out that there were two different stories. We would have filled in all the blanks. We should've just kept talking.**_

 _ **Stiles: He knew we wouldn't.**_

 _ **Scott: I didn't want it to happen like this.**_

 _ **Stiles: Like what?**_

 _ **Scott: I knew, sooner or later, one of us was going to get a little too much blood on our hands. I half thought it was gonna be Malia.**_

 _ **Stiles: Well, she definitely seems like she's working on it.**_

Malia huffed.

 _ **Scott: I just always thought, if it were to happen, it should be me. I'm the one who's constantly putting you guys in danger, risking your lives, for people you don't even know. It should've been me.**_

 _ **Stiles touches his friends shoulder and says they only have a few hours to sunrise. They turn to go but notice the sound of swords clashing and a flash of light coming, periodically, from the base of the mountain and realize it is Kira.**_

"Okay the skin walkers are far more cooler than I first thought if they could create a storm like that" Hayden mumbled. "Oh they can do much more" Peter smirked.

 _ **Kira parries each attack but each time she cuts the Oni the wound appears on her body. Finally, her fox spirit appears as a flaming outline around her body. It rises up and consumes the Oni. It disappears in a flash of orange light. Noshiko gets out of her SUV and looks to the now-silent hills. Malia is rummaging through the vet clinic records. Theo comes in and explains that she won't find**_ _ **Dr. Deaton**_ _ **on her own. He says Deaton's probably already dead and that Scott will realize that it's Malia's fault. Malia attacks him. She beats him pretty good, even breaking his arm but he keeps smiling. He says he let Stiles kick his ass too. He snaps his broken bone back in place and offers to help Malia find Deaton and the Desert Wolf by using the method the Dread Doctors use to find everyone.**_

Peter's eyes narrowed.

 _ **Kira walks down the mountain to her mother with the now-empty mask of the Oni. She throws it to the ground and declares that she passed the test. The Skinwalkers appear and say she didn't pass, her fox spirit did. They explain that she wields the sword but the spirit wields her. They say Kira has no control and no hope without them, so she will have to stay and become one of them.**_

"Well it was nice knowing her" Liam muttered then yelped at the slap Hayden gave his back.

 _ **Hayden approaches Liam at the library. She again tries to convince him that Scott can't protect them the way Theo can. Hayden says her sister couldn't handle it if she died and she can't do it again because it would ruin her. Liam says it would ruin him too. They kiss.**_

"It was cute at the beginning now it's just plain sappy" Mason muttered. "Hater!" Liam growled into his ear.

 _ **Noshiko takes Kira's sword and urges her daughter to get to the car. One of the Skinwalkers throws a spear and punctures the tire. Kira retrieves the spear and returns to her mother's side. The Skinwalkers again says Kira must stay with us. Noshiko points out that she is "Kitsune of 900 years" and they will have to go through her to get Kira. Stiles and Scott drive up. Scott rolls out of the still moving Jeep, comes up on his feet and growls at the Skinwalkers. Stiles urges everyone to get into the Jeep. A Skinwalker throws a spear at the vehicle but Noshiko, with Kira's sword, spits the spear and it falls harmlessly to the ground. Noshiko gets to the Jeep and they drive away leaving the Skinwalkers watching their retreat.**_

"Kitsunes are badass" Stiles muttered.

 _ **Scott and Kira waste no time. They immediately begin kissing. When they come up for air, Kira declares her love for Scott.**_

"Oh gross" Stiles pulled a face. "Hey!" Scott complains. "The make out session" Stiles rolled his eyes.

 _ **Sometime later, Scott is asleep on the couch and Kira wakes him. Liam and Mason are there. They've learned from Corey that Theo is looking for a blind Alpha. Scott realizes he's talking about**_ _ **Deucalion**_ _ **.**_

"Deucalion? But he has his eye sight back" Scott blinked in surprise. "Guess we need to continue to see what the fuck happened" Stiles said.


	84. AN 5

Hey guys! Hope you all are doing well! I love the amount of love you are showing my stories even though they are a lot shittier than you guys make it seem XD

Anyways to my other point. My classes started up again. I'm in the Sports club now!(shocker I know). So there are club duties that need my attention. Also my programming courses are taking a lot of my time (I study computer science engineering). My other courses are no less of a time eater too. I also started making Youtube vids! (they are shitty and I cringe at myself a lot ._.)

All in all, I have a hectic schedule going on right now and would love nothing more than to update my stories! But you know the painful life of students (Over exaggeration there XD). So I will update the stories at odd times with no fixed updating date as my free time really depends on how less of a drag my assignments are.

Hopefully I could pass on my words to you in an understandable manner. Please continue to read my stories and love them as you guys always do. You all literally bring tears of joy in my eyes with every positive comment you guys leave :')


	85. 5-14

_**Gerard**_ _ **and**_ _ **Chris Argent**_ _ **search a network of tunnels while discussing the**_ _ **Beast of Gevaudan**_ _ **. Gerard finds black soot on the tunnel wall and says it's like a fingerprint. He explains that there were a lot of descriptions of the beast. Witnesses described everything from a red-furred giant wolf to a cloven-hoofed panther the size of a horse. Gerard's grandfather told him the body was oil-black, solid but shapeless at the same time. It was like a shadow pretending to be real.**_

"He knows quite a lot dad and maybe that's why you brought him back but I still don't trust him at all" Allison whispered to her father. Chris nods, "I know, but sometimes you need to take a risk to ensure the safety of the mass" Chris whispered back. Allison nods but didn't look too convinced.

 _ **Hearing this, Chris holsters his pistol and takes out a much larger weapon.**_

"Yeah I don't think that would work out any better" Stiles added.

 _ **Gerard says, as far as legend goes, the only weapon proved effective against the beast was a simple spear wielded by a young woman. Chris realizes this is**_ _ **The Maid of Gevaudan**_ _ **.**_

"I thought it was our ancestor who did the beast in" Allison asked, remembering the research she had seen herself do a long while back. "It was. The story I think will be told very soon so let's wait for that" Chris said with a small smile.

 _ **The men split up. Chris hears a scurrying, scuttling sound rustling somewhere in the tunnel. Gerard meets the**_ _ **Dread Doctors**_ _ **in a different tunnel. He whips out one of the**_ _ **Hunters**_ _ **ultrasonic emitters and embeds it into the wall. The doctors seem unable to advance. Gerard says he knows their frequency. He wonders aloud what their reason for being in the tunnels might be. He walks away leaving the Dread Doctors motionless.**_

"How..does he know that?" Lydia blinked in surprise. "Something tells me Gerard ran his own investigation in his little care home" Chris narrowed his eyes.

 _ **Chris follows the scurrying sound to its source, a grate in the floor of the tunnel. He drops a flare into the grate and the thousands of insects, the source of the noise, scatter from the flame revealing a pile of dead bodies.**_

"Oh that's just plain disgusting" Mason gagged. "Other way!" Liam turned him around, making him face Corey who jumped out of his chair.

 _ **Deputy**_ _ **Jordan Parrish**_ _ **watches as 23 bodies are wheeled into Beacon Hills Hospital morgue. The**_ _ **Sheriff**_ _ **, walking with a cane, tries to reassure Parrish that his dream is not coming true and tells him to get back to the station and go through recent missing person's reports.**_ _ **Scott**_ _ **,**_ _ **Stiles**_ _ **and**_ _ **Kira**_ _ **exit the elevator. The Sheriff explains that Chris Argent found the bodies and says the Dread Doctors were there too. He also apparently thinks the boys might now what is doing the killing. The Medical Examiner has reported that the people were killed somewhere else and dumped in the tunnels. Scott speculates that the Doctors are hiding the bodies. Stiles says they may be protecting the Beast like parents would a child. Scott explains that it's a werewolf. Kira adds that it is called the Beast. The Sheriff says they need to figure out what they're going to call Parrish because it appears his dream is coming true.**_

"I suggest we call him the same name as that one dude from Smallville who could see how other people would die" Stiles said. He looked around at all the confused looks he was getting, "Smallville?" Scott asked. "You know, the show where they tell us about the life of superman before he was superman" Stiles explained. "I suggest" Lydia interrupted before a whole new topic would erupt, "we call him Parrish" she said with finality. Scott nodded while Stiles rolled his eyes.

 _ **In her dream,**_ _ **Meredith Walker**_ _ **is trying to teach**_ _ **Lydia**_ _ **to use her voice as a weapon. Meredith says she should user her hands to direct her scream. Lydia complains that none of what's happening to her is real. Meredith screams and shoves Lydia to the back of a cell. The door,**_ _ **bullet-resistant polycarbonate,**_ _ **slides shut locking her inside. Meredith says Lydia will need to make her voice like a bullet to break it.**_

"So that's where she learned that" Stiles thought, remembering the first scene he had seen at the start of this year's video.

 _ **Theo**_ _ **says he'll help**_ _ **Malia Tate**_ _ **find**_ _ **Dr. Deaton**_ _ **. He says there is something in the Doctors' lair that can help but he needs to inject her with**_ _ **Wolfsbane**_ _ **to weaken her so that she can't figure out the location of the lair. He says the Doctors used it on Theo when they took him there. She allows herself to be injected.**_

"Bad idea. Very bad idea" Liam said in a singsong voice. "I know! Now shut it" Malia snapped making Liam shrink into himself slightly.

 _ **The voice on the PA at Beacon Hills High School announces a curfew is in effect starting at sundown by order of the Sheriff. After school activities have been canceled and students are told to go home at the end of the school day. Several sheriff's deputies roam the hallway with shotguns. Stiles mentions to Deputy Strauss that it seems a bit much in terms of firepower for a high school. Strauss says the Sheriff issued the weapons but wouldn't say why. When asked about his theory about it he asks Scott and Stiles if they believe in the supernatural.**_

Both Scott and Stiles snorted in amusement.

 _ **Kira's father takes her sword away. She protests that she is useless without the sword. He quotes Napoleon, "There are only two forces in the world, the sword and the spirit. In the long run the sword will always be conquered by the spirit." She says she thought she was supposed to conquer the fox spirit. Her father explains that he means her own spirit will prevail and says she is still stronger than the fox. She protests that she is useless to her friends without a weapon. He says the sword is a gateway to the fox and the fox is too dangerous. He says her mind is a weapon and that she should trust herself. He says she can outfox the fox. He then releases a clasp on the sword's hilt and it breaks into its component parts which fall to his desk.**_

"I still find that extremely cool. A sword that breaks apart in a twist and then you can piece it together anytime you want" Corey said. "You wouldn't say that if you broke it down accidentally in a battle" Peter smirked. "The guy might be an psychopathic ass, but he is right" Mason shrugged much to the ire of Peter for being called a psychopathic ass.

 _ **Malia awakes in the Dread Doctors' Lair. She is strapped to an examination table. Theo says the restraints are to keep her from hurting herself or him. He says they'll need to attach a pair of spiked goggles to her face.**_

"You know, that's not how you get ladies Theo" Liam smirked at the wounded boy who sat the very back.

 _ **He explains that all supernatural creatures vibrate at certain frequencies. The Doctors gave each of their chimera a different frequency and, with the goggles, they could find them easily. Theo says Malia will need to concentrate on the**_ _ **Desert Wolf**_ _ **in order to make them work. Theo places the goggles over her eyes and flips a switch. The spikes shoot out and embed themselves in the soft tissue just below Malia's eyes. She screams. Blood streams down her face. Theo urges her to focus and to open her eyes. Once she does, she can see Deaton and the Desert Wolf at a military base called Fort Jewett. She is duct taping him to a chair and he's trying to explain that whatever she is planning has to be on the full moon.**_

"It's always on a full moon" Stiles sighed. "That is when all supernatural creatures get a weird boost in their powers" Scott shrugged.

 _ **Theo removes the goggles and Malia explains what she saw. She says her mother is in Beacon Hills. Malia enters the boy's locker room at school. She tells Liam to tell Scott that he was right about the tunnels. She explains that, by scent, she's figured out that the Dread Doctors operating theater is down in the tunnels.**_

"Nicely done" Scott grinned making Malia feel a bit of pride in her decision.

 _ **Braeden**_ _ **isn't thrilled about the idea of going into Fort Jewett without better recognizance. She is even less thrilled about Theo being part of the plan. Malia says he has to come. Braeden points out that he tried to kill Scott. Theo points out that, technically, he did kill Scott. Braeden thinks they should kill him.**_

"I second that!" Stiles shouted out.

 _ **Theo claims that he did what he had to do to survive. He claims the Dread Doctors wanted everybody dead but he convinced them that they should just kill Scott.**_

"Well he is not wrong" Scott pointed out. "Still want him dead" Stiles pointed out.

 _ **Braeden says they should tell Scott. Malia says Scott might try to stop her from killing her mother. Theo says he's planning on helping. Braeden says the Desert Wolf carries pretty heavy firepower. She explains that, at some point, the werecoyote lost part of her powers so she is not as fast or as strong as she used to be so she started using guns and became a perfect shot.**_

"A highly dangerous enemy with senses of a coyote and a perfect shot? No wonder Peter fell for this one" Laura snorted.

 _ **Liam Dunbar**_ _ **wanders around the tunnels lost. He gets a text from**_ _ **Hayden**_ _ **asking if he is free tonight. He runs into Scott who admits he's been following Liam and has been watching him as he made the wrong turn in the tunnel five different times. Liam explains that Malia says the tunnel smelled like the Dread Doctor lair.**_

"You know, if you guys weren't what you guys were then Scott would have been beaten up as a stalker" Mason pointed out. "If we weren't what we are, then we wouldn't know each other" Liam added. "Of course you would. You two play lacrosse together" Corey added. Liam blinked, "oh yeah" he realized.

 _ **Fort Jewett looks abandoned. This makes Braeden nervous she says she's not going in with so much uncertainty. Malia isn't backing down. After some more hemming and hawing, they decide to proceed.**_

"Listen to the professional killer honey" Peter sighed while Malia just growled in reply.

 _ **In her dream, Lydia is exhausted. She begs Meredith to just tell her how she learned to use her voice as a weapon. Meredith says her way gets people hurt and Lydia must find her own way. She relates the story of her first experience using her voice as a weapon. She was in chemistry class and the voices in her head were screaming so loudly that she couldn't stand it. She says everyone everywhere was screaming, dying. She slammed her hands down on her desk and screamed. Her voice caused all the windows to explode and injured her classmates. It was explained as a chemical explosion but everyone knew it was Meredith. She knows her voice is like a bomb and says Lydia needs to find a better way. She needs to make her voice like a bullet.**_

"That's kind of sad when you think about it. No wonder she wants the best for Lydia. She wants to help someone like her so that she doesn't go through what she did" Allison whispered. Lydia nodded and watched the screen with a small smile, guess the crazy banshee wasn't so crazy or bad after all.

 _ **Lydia hears a slide-action shotgun. She turns and the back of her cell disappears. She sees a cave and Malia cowering in fear. Meredith says it is a**_ _ **Banshee**_ _ **premonition. Lydia realizes Malia is going to die.**_

"Isn't that a fun thing to know" Stiles rolled his eyes.

 _ **Stiles visits Lydia, still in a catatonic state in the real world, and explains that he checked on her classes and picked up assignments for her. He says they're going over the Riemann hypothesis, non-trivial zeros and Zeta functions. He says it all went over his head. He urges her to wake up and explain it to him. He holds her hand and begs her to come back. He says they won't make it without her.**_

"We really wouldn't" Stiles smiled at Lydia who smiled back with a small blush.

 _ **Natalie Martin**_ _ **shows up and says Stiles has to leave. He notices that someone has shaved a patch on Lydia's head. He thinks it might be for**_ _ **trepanation.**_ _ **Natalie claims it is for Electroconvulsive Therapy or ECT. She says it requires that they shave small portions of the scalp. She claims it's done under general anesthesia and that it is perfectly safe. Stiles claims the head shaving isn't for ECT.**_

"I feel like Stiles is right here" Melissa thought to herself.

 _ **Natalie tells Stiles to go or he won't be allowed back. Nurse Cross (Mandy Levin) says it's time for Lydia's shower. Exiting the**_ _ **Eichen House**_ _ **ward, Stiles bumps into an orderly and steals the man's access card which is necessary to open the various locked gates in the hospital.**_

"You the man!" Mason exclaimed with a laugh while Stiles smirked and his parents sighed.

 _ **Scott and Liam feel a vibration in the tunnel. Liam says it's coming from everywhere. He has a heart to heart with Scott about trying to kill him. He says just saying "sorry" won't do. Scott says he hasn't even done that. Liam explains that when he was at**_ _ **Devenford Prep**_ _ **he got into a fight and knocked out another boy's teeth. He was forced to write a letter to apologize but he knew, and the other boy knew, that they didn't really mean it. He says he feels like he needs to save Scott's life to make up for what he did to him. Scott says he'll probably get the chance.**_

"With what you lot are facing? If the thing doesn't kill him first he might" Peter snorted. Derek slapped the back of his head making Peter look at his nephew in surprise. "Not the time" Derek mumbled out with an eye roll.

 _ **Liam is frustrated that they've been wandering in the tunnels with nothing to show for it. All he's managed to find is a snake sculpture on the wall. Scott turns the snake and the vibrations wind down. A door appears in the wall of the tunnel. They enter to find Chris Argent pointing a gun at them.**_

"Is this how you two always meet one another?" Mason asked. "Not now. Maybe in the future" Scott shrugged while Chris just snorted.

 _ **Scott smells Gerard and is in disbelief. Chris says they'll need him. Gerard comes around the corner and Scott flashes his red eyes at him. Gerard says the color suits Scott. Liam asks about "the old guy" and Gerard introduces himself saying he's the "necessary evil."**_

"Evil? Yes. Necessary? I don't think so" Allison shook her head.

 _ **Gerard says if they want to catch a werewolf like the Beast of Gevaudan they'll need more than one Argent. Chris explains that his father knows all the folklore and all the stories, those written and passed down, about the Beast. Chris shows Scott and Liam the fresco of the Beast fighting the Hellhound. Gerard says a**_ _ **Hellhound**_ _ **is a guardian of supernatural places. He says they're both creatures of the night but human during the day and they both probably have no idea what they are.**_

"As a hell hound myself, I can confirm that statement" Parrish nodded.

 _ **Scott explains about the**_ _ **Damnatio Memoriae**_ _ **message the Dread Doctors have been leaving around. Gerard says they want it to remember itself. Chris says it might give them time to prevent what's coming. They break away more of the tile to reveal the bottom of the fresco. It shows a pile of bodies. Scott says he thinks those bodies are all of them, all of them.**_

"Nice. Just… nice" Stiles deadpanned.

 _ **Inside Fort Jewett, Malia, Braeden and Theo creep around. Malia senses something is wrong. They find Deaton duct taped to the chair and Theo attacks Braeden, knocking her unconscious.**_

"Typical" Allison pursed her lips.

 _ **He takes her shotgun and shoots Malia in the guts. Theo says Malia picked up a chemo signal from him and that it was probably regret. He kicks the gun to the Desert Wolf and she tosses him a jar with some glowing blue Garuda claws inside.**_

"Is he planning on using them on Scott? It didn't work last time" Hayden whispered to Liam. "Not Scott" Theo thought with a smirk.

 _ **Deputy Parrish explains about his role in Afghanistan with the military. He was part of an EOD team. They show him a picture of the hellhound. Chris presses him to remember his experiences in Afghanistan. He's shown in his uniform attempting to disarm an IED as his fellow soldiers run away. He cuts a wire and the device explodes. He walks away mostly unharmed with most of his uniform burned off.**_

"So… that's how you first awakened" Laura pointed out. "I guess yeah" Parrish said in a quiet voice. He always wondered what had actually happened back then, the memory of the event very fuzzy.

 _ **Gerard reminds him that he came to Beacon Hills because he felt drawn to the town, that he hid the bodies of the Chimera and have a resistance to fire. Gerard lights a blowtorch and says they're wondering just how flame retardant he is. Chris grabs Parrish and Gerard puts the blue flame close to his face. Parrish's eye flashes orange, he roars and shows a set of double fangs. He catches sight of himself in the mirror and draws back. He reverts to his regular form and shouts at Gerard. He asks if they were prepared to burn his eye out if they'd been wrong. Gerard says yes.**_

"Before anyone says anything, it's in the future and I don't know how desperate I actually am" Chris put the words out before anyone could protest. "That doesn't make things any easier!" Allison argued but didn't say much after.

 _ **Lydia stands under a steaming shower there is an angry red scar or bruise on her side just below her ribs. Nurse Cross stands nearby with a towel waiting. She is impatient and says she believes Lydia is faking catatonia and is just waiting for the staff to drop their guard.**_

"Ah so now we are seeing the future future and not a flashback in the future" Stiles says. Lydia turns to him and blinks, "Um what?" she asks. "Well the first scene was this one and then the rest came in where you weren't in the institute which means that the scenes after that was kind of a flashback. Safe to say we are out of a little flashback session and now moving ahead" Stiles explained while Lydia and those confused nodded in understanding.

 _ **In her dream, Lydia is still in the cell. She is pacing, worried about Malia. Meredith urges her not to get lost. She says Lydia can help them but she has to get out of Eichen first. She can see Malia with her gunshot wound and hear the Desert Wolf explain that her real name isn't Malia. The Desert Wolf grabs Malia's throat. She says that**_ _ **Talia Hale**_ _ **took her away before she had a chance to name her. She punches Malia in the face and throws the gun away. She says Malia, by being born, took away much of her speed, healing ability and power. She puts her foot on Malia's wound and grinds her boot heel into it. Malia screams.**_

"What a way to say I love you" Peter growled, his hands clenching into a fists.

 _ **She wants her power back and plans to kill Malia to get it. Deaton says she can't kill Malia now. He says if she wants her power it has to be on the full moon. Deaton calls her Corinne and says if she kills Malia now she'll get nothing. Still dreaming, Lydia feels all of this. Meredith yells at her that she can help, telling her to break the glass. In the real world, Orderly Schrader seems to draw some sort of pleasure from injecting Lydia. He moves to inject her in the neck.**_

"Why am I surrounded by creeps" Lydia groaned. "Hey!" Stiles said in a hurt voice.

 _ **Dream Meredith screams for her to break the glass. She takes a deep breath and pushes forward with her hands. Schrader is startled as Lydia snaps upright and screams causing the lights to explode in the room. The Desert Wolf is going for the death blow but Lydia's scream seems to reach Fort Jewett too. The light over Deaton's head explodes in shower of sparks and the Desert Wolf jumps back. With her mother distracted, Malia kicks her viciously. She makes it to her feet and the two**_ _ **Werecoyote**_ _ **face off with eyes flashing and fangs bared. They trade kicks and blows.**_

"Oh shit that was a strong one" Liam said in awe.

 _ **Lydia is quickly up and out of her cell. Two orderlies have her cornered in the hallway. She takes on one directly using the martial arts skills she learned from Parrish to incapacitate. Still fighting her mother, Malia yells that she killed her family because the Desert Wolf shot up their car. Corinne points out that they were Malia's adopted family. They punch some more.**_

"They were family" Malia growled.

 _ **The other orderly is now upon Lydia and she pushes him back with both hands and screams. Waves of power seem to emanate from her hands and, propelled by the scream, send the orderly flying down the hall. Several of the overhead light fixtures explode. The Desert Wolf seems to have the upper hand in the fight. She taunts Malia saying that she didn't care about her adopted family, she was just trying to kill Malia. The fight at Fort Jewett is interrupted as the Beast of Gevaudan begins punching through the wall behind Deaton.**_

"Oh shit" Stiles swore as he got a better look at the beast.

 _ **In the pouring rain, Eichen House security guards begin shocking Lydia with tazer-prods. She is distraught. She says she has to get to her friends to warn them that they're all going to die. The Beast continues clawing his way through the concrete block wall. Malia has a choice, continue her fight with her mother or save Deaton. She chooses to save Deaton. As the Beast picks up his chair, Malia quickly cuts the duct tape securing him and he is free.**_ _ **Braeden**_ _ **regains consciousness and they escape as the Beast roars.**_

"Thank you" Scott smiled at Malia. "For what?" she asked with a raised eyebrow. "For saving him" Scott said with a smile. Malia just nodded and looked away.

 _ **Theo returns to the Dread Doctors operating theater to find his pack,**_ _ **Tracy**_ _ **,**_ _ **Josh**_ _ **, and**_ _ **Corey**_ _ **wounded. He is a bit disgusted that they got that hurt trying to take down one blind werewolf.**_ _ **Deucalion**_ _ **is hooked up to a wolfsbane drip to keep him under control. He explains that he was recently re-blinded. He explains that healing of his eyes by a**_ _ **Dark Druid**_ _ **was only temporary. A parting gift from his time with**_ _ **Scott McCall**_ _ **. Deucalion has been informed of the part he is to play in Theo's plan. He is to help him steal the power of the Beast of Gevaudan. Theo says he believes Deucalion is "open to negotiation." Deucalion says he wants only one thing, Scott's eyes on the tips of his claws.**_

"Doesn't sound like Deucalion" Talia mused. "People change" Derek added but he too felt that there was more to the story.

 _ **Scott and Liam arrive at**_ _ **Beacon Hills Animal Clinic**_ _ **and find Braeden, Malia and Deaton. He hugs the vet. Later, at the McCall House, Kira, Scott, Stiles, Malia and Liam have collected, blueprints and pictures of Eichen House. They also have a security log book and the key card Stiles stole earlier. Scott says it's time to go get Lydia.**_

"Finally the pack is going to get completed!" Stiles cheers.


	86. 5-15

It was with a good mood that the pack is going to be remade that the next part started with a smiling Scott, a grinning Stiles, a smirking Malia, an excited Theo and a relieved Lydia.

 _ **The**_ _ **Beast of Gevaudan**_ _ **lands in the middle of a dark road.**_

"The things looks uglier the more I look at it" Mason grumbled. "I don't know man. It looks cool to me" Corey chuckled.

 _ **Sirens can be heard in the distance. A group of Sheriff's vehicles are racing down the road with**_ _ **Stiles Stilinski**_ _ **and**_ _ **Scott McCall**_ _ **close behind in the jeep. A series of radio calls describes what they're seeing.**_

 _ **Deputy Clark**_ _ **– Unit 5 heading northwest on Crescent. Reporting an incredibly large something.**_

 _ **Unit 9 – Unit 9 to dispatch. I think I've got eyes on the same thing. It's some kind of rabid animal.**_

 _ **Deputy Clark – Unit 5 to 9. Trust me, that's no animal.**_

"Understatement" Hayden mumbled.

 _ **In another location, in the midst of what looks to be a multi-car pileup, Deputy Strauss is the only officer on scene.**_

 _ **Deputy Strauss– Unit 6 to dispatch. We have a situation downtown involving multiple fatalities.**_

 _ **Dispatch – Copy. Medics on the way. Do you have a perp in sight Unit 6?**_

 _ **Deputy Strauss - Negative. Looks like a 1091-E, Animal Attack.**_

 _ **Dispatch – 10-4. Can you say what kind of animal?**_

"This looks bad" Noah grimaced. "You guys will handle it and take care of the thing before it becomes a threat" Claudia said soothingly to her husband.

 _ **Back on the road with the other deputies, Stiles decides to act.**_

 _ **Stiles – All units stay back. Do not engage. I repeat. Do not engage.**_

 _ **Sheriff Stilinski**_ _ **– Stiles! Get off the radio. All unit alert. Wait for backup. Repeat. No one goes near this thing.**_

 _ **Deputy Clark – Unit 5 reporting a sighting off Hill Road southbound.**_

 _ **Unit 9 – Unit 9. I've got it turning off Oak Ridge, southbound on Beachwood.**_

 _ **Dispatch – All units. This is Dispatch. We've got a 911 call with an additional sighting on Mitcham.**_

 _ **At this news, the Sheriff pushes the accelerator further.**_

 _ **In the Jeep, Scott and Stiles realize that the sightings suggest the beast's destination.**_

 _ **Stiles – Dad.**_

 _ **Sheriff – Stiles get off this channel!**_

 _ **Stiles – Dad just listen to me. He's headed for the hospital. All right? He's headed for Beacon Memorial. Do you hear me? He's headed for the hospital.**_

"By the look on your face I can guess that Stiles does that quite a lot" Rafael chuckled. "A lot is an underestimation" Noah shook his head with a defeated sigh while Stiles grinned innocently.

 _ **At**_ _ **the hospital**_ _ **,**_ _ **Melissa McCall**_ _ **is evacuating patients. Patients and doctors stream out the emergency room entrance as a series of loud booms shake the building. Melissa turns the corner to investigate the sound of twisting metal and additional crashes. The elevator doors open, she hears a low growl and quickly turns around and runs for the exit.**_

"Run as fast as you can mom" Scott said with a clenched fist. Melissa looks at her son with a smile, her hand placed comfortingly over the fist.

 _ **Sheriff – Unit 5. Clark, I need eyes on Parrish. Does anyone have Parrish's 20?**_

 _ **Dispatch – All units. We have a 911 emergency call reporting a man on fire running into Beacon Memorial.**_

 _ **Sheriff – Clark disregard.**_

"We found him" Stiles quips earning eye rolls from his father and the man in question.

 _ **Scott and Stiles enter the hospital followed quickly by the sheriff. They hear loud growls coming from above. Scott says they're on the fourth floor. They find charred bits and some still parts of the hallway still burning. As they turn the corner a flaming man comes flying past them and smacks into the wall.**_

"That has got to hurt" Mason winced. "I'm sure I would be in the hospital after that" Parrish mumbled. "Don't underestimate your healing boy" Peter said with a smirk.

 _ **Parrish's flames disappear followed a few seconds later by the fire in his eyes. He seems dazed until the Sheriff shouts at him. Scott finds beast tracks in blood on the floor. As he follows them, the tracks go from being clawed feet to bloody shoe prints.**_

"So the thing reverted back to hum. And I'm very sure he or she would be very dazed to wonder what they were doing in the middle of a charred and burning hospital hall" Stiles said. "What makes you think he or she already know?" Laura asked. "Well if he did I don't think he would have reverted back and would probably have continued on his quest for a rampage and killed everything in sight" Stile explained making Laura nod.

 _ **Dr. Deaton**_ _ **has a file he says shouldn't exist. It's pictures and other records of experimentation carried out on living people by**_ _ **Dr. Gabriel Valack**_ _ **during his time as Chief Medical Officer of**_ _ **Eichen House**_ _ **.**_

"Sick" Allison made a disgusted face. Lydia looked at the pictures in silent horror and wide eyes.

 _ **The pictures show what look to be a series of dead creatures. There is one of a**_ _ **Banshee**_ _ **who died screaming. Deaton says Valack experimented on**_ _ **Werewolfs**_ _ **,**_ _ **Wendigos**_ _ **and any creature he could get his hands on. Valack found that trepanation would initially heighten a subject's powers but the higher levels couldn't be contained. Scott surmises that Valack wants to make**_ _ **Lydia**_ _ **more powerful.**_

"I do not consent!" Lydia suddenly shouted. "I don't think he would care" Hayden said making Lydia turn a glare at her but saying nothing else.

 _ **Deaton says Lydia's abilities are already pretty exceptional already. A whole in her head will be like a leak in a nuclear reactor. She would hear every dying scream all at once and her own dying scream could be so powerful it might kill everyone around her.**_

"All the more reason to put her under protective custody" Stiles said. "I think her mom has it covered" Mason pointed out. "I don't think she has if this Valack freak gets desperate" Stiles mumbled in anger.

 _ **The sheriff tells Stiles he's doing everything he can to get Lydia out of Eichen House but it's really up to her mother. Stiles wants him to pressure her directly or to get a court order. The sheriff explains that trepanation is still considered a medical procedure and a court order would take months and the judge probably wouldn't grant it. The sheriff says there is nothing they can do "legally."**_

"I blame you for how our son turned out" Claudia suddenly said making Noah gape and Stiles burst into laughter.

 _ **In the**_ _ **McCall House**_ _ **, Stiles and Scott brief**_ _ **Kira**_ _ **,**_ _ **Malia**_ _ **and**_ _ **Liam**_ _ **about the plan to break into Eichen House and rescue Lydia. They will need to get past the orderlies, guards, electronic door locks and a**_ _ **Mountain Ash**_ _ **barrier. The plan involves Kira drawing power from the system and causing a brownout so the electronic locks will reboot and the badge that Stiles stole last night will work. Kira says she doesn't know how to do that but Scott says she'll have time to practice.**_

"Even with the practice, if the foxes messes shit up she won't be able to do it" Derek mumbled. "Gee someone is a ball of sunshine" Laura muttered making her brother growl under his breath.

 _ **During the reboot, the alarms will be off and Scott and Liam will get Stiles to the gate of the closed unit. The werewolves can't continue because of the Mountain Ash barrier but Stiles can. If the plan goes perfectly, everyone will think it was a simple reboot of the security system caused by a brownout. Everyone is doubtful of the plan but Scott says if they fail, Lydia will die and might take a lot of innocent people with her.**_

"That should be a good motivator" Lydia sighed. "We would have done anyways. You were in danger" Scott said with a smile mirrored by every one of his pack members in the room. Lydia gave a small smile at them.

 _ **Dr. Valack and Nurse Cross walk down an unused, leaky Eichen House corridor. From a storage locker Valack retrieves what appears to be a mask from one of the**_ _ **Dread Doctors**_ _ **. It's broken and burned. Valack says he hasn't put the mask on anyone in years. Nurse Cross expresses doubt that the mask will still work. When she turns away, Valack slams it down on her head. She convulses and screams for a few moments before settling down on the floor.**_

"Yeah it still does" Liam snorted.

 _ **Kira and Malia are practicing her electrical abilities in the biology lab at school. Kira is reluctant saying she doesn't know how to do what they're asking. Malia asks how she learned to do it before and how she learned to use a sword. Kira admits that she didn't learn, she just knew how to do it. Malia says Kira's never worked for anything and is a basically a "cheater."**_

"Harsh" Hayden says. "But it's true" Malia replied with a challenging raised eyebrow.

 _ **When Kira expresses doubt that they can even get past the Eichen House front gate, Malia says she has "a guy on the inside."**_

"Yay for Malia" Mason cheered earning a growl from Malia.

 _ **Kira settles in to practice but instead of taking power from the grid, she sends more in and explodes the lightbulb. A shard of glass from the bulb is embedded in Malia's head. She plucks it gingerly from her skin and takes out a fresh lightbulb so they can try again.**_

"Damn you're gonna become a human cheese at the end of this practice session" Liam joked. Malia huffed, wondering why she was even helping out.

 _ **Melissa retrieves body bags for Scott and Liam from the hospital morgue. She tells Scott not to come back in one. He assures her they're coming back with Lydia. Liam points out that they still don't know who the beast is, if it's someone they know or even if that person knows they're doing it. He uses the word "He" to describe it and Melissa points out that it might not be a "He." Melissa is brusque with Liam and he notices. She says she's not mad at him but if he tries to kill her son again she'll put him in one of the body bags herself.**_

"Yeah you better be careful with what you do from now on" Stiles laughed. Liam just shrank in his seat and tried to avoid looking in the general direction of Melissa McCall.

 _ **As Melissa turns away, Liam whispers, "She's still mad." Scott nods.**_

"Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned" Peter chuckled.

 _ **Stiles convinces Parrish to drive the Sheriff's van to Eichen House. The Deputy says it's not safe to bring him because he's dangerous. Stiles points out that the "giant werewolf who's killed over 30 people" is dangerous too but somehow Parrish survived it.**_

"Because he is the only thing that can survive the giant killer werewolf" Corey said. "He isn't a thing. He is a human who has special powers that makes him fall onto other categories." Scott corrected.

 _ **The biology lab is covered in broken lightbulbs. Malia is now wearing goggles and sitting a few feet away from Kira.**_

The room snorted in unison.

 _ **Kira tries to ask about the**_ _ **Desert Wolf**_ _ **and her attempt to kill her and her plan to kill her mother. Malia quickly changes the subject back to Kira's practice with electricity. Malia takes off her goggles and gets in close again. She says she knows Kira will get it right because it's the only way to get Lydia out of Eichen House. Kira tries again. The bulb dims significantly but as soon as Malia points out that Kira is succeeding, she loses control, the bulb flashes brightly, breaks and the entire power grid of the school goes out. Both girls beat a hasty retreat.**_

"Well she knows what to do at least" Stiles said optimistically. "Yeah. Run like hell before she gets caught" Liam joked.

 _ **After they exit the biology classroom,**_ _ **Corey**_ _ **becomes visible against the blackboard. He was apparently listening to them for some time.**_

"That is considered stalking you know that?" Malia glared at Corey who nodded mutely. "You try that shit against me again and I kill you" she growled and looked away.

 _ **In the library at school, Stiles brings Scott up to speed on his dad's investigation of the shoe prints left after the beast transformed back into human at the hospital. He says they're both mystified by how that worked. Scott reminds him that**_ _ **Chris Argent**_ _ **said it would be unlike anything they've ever seen before. Stiles says it defies the laws of physics.**_

"I don't think Physics was introduced taking the supernatural into consideration" Laura deadpanned.

 _ **Theo is in the library. Stiles wants to beat him with a lead pipe wrapped in barbed wire.**_

"I like that idea" Stiles muttered. "Of course you do. It came from your head" Lydia replied in a whisper.

 _ **Theo admits that mistakes were made. Stiles points out that murders were made. Theo tells Scott that he and his chimeras can help them get past the Mountain Ash at Eichen House. Scott asks about his true motives and Theo says he references the fresco in the Dread Doctor's lair. He says just wants to stay alive when the "two seriously pissed off creatures," the**_ _ **Hellhound**_ _ **and the beast, end up fighting over a pile of dead bodies. He says he can get them to Lydia or just see who gets to her first.**_

"I swear if you touch her" Stiles growled. "Future me isn't now me" Theo growled back. "Yeah…we should stop this beatings" Scott suddenly said making everyone turn to him so fast he almost fell back in surprise. "What I mean" he cleared his throat, "he hasn't done anything yet and we shouldn't punish him for doing anything he hasn't done yet" he said slowly. People were not happy but they agreed. Theo on the other hand looked at Scott curiously.

 _ **Once Theo leaves, Stiles points out that Theo can't know what Valack is doing to Lydia and wonders why Theo is so interested. Scott says they're all thinking Lydia has something bigger to do with their situation and may be the only one who can actually save them. The sheriff tries to convince**_ _ **Natalie Martin**_ _ **to get Lydia out of Eichen House. He says she knows what's going on, the closed unit at Eichen and what's down there. Natalie says she knows how to survive in**_ _ **Beacon Hills**_ _ **. She then relates the story of her mother-in-law**_ _ **Lorraine Martin**_ _ **and how she predicted the death of her wife. Natalie then says that she too had similar experience when she was in college. She had a feeling her sister was in trouble and later found out that her appendix had burst.**_

"Guess you get your intuitions form your mother. The non-banshee ones" Stiles said with a smile. Lydia just nodded and watched.

 _ **Natalie says everybody has some story like that. The Sheriff suggests they are "undeniable proof of the supernatural" but she claims it's all coincidence and nothing more. He then leaves the file on Valack's experiments with her and says it might expand her definition of coincidence. Kira tries to convince Scott that she can't cause the brownout. Everyone offers words of encouragement except for Malia. Stiles presses until Malia, halfheartedly, says Kira can do it.**_

"That's the best you'll get out of me" Malia huffed when Stiles turned to look at her.

 _ **At Eichen House, Kira and Malia walk in with a large group of visitors. They hide around the corner from the reception desk. Parrish drives the van up to the guard shack claiming the animal attacks have filled up the hospital morgue and Eichen has the only other up to code morgue in the county. The guard is skeptical and wants to see the bodies but once Parrish opens one, revealing a badly decomposed, and apparently stinky, body. The guard tells him to go ahead without opening the other bags.**_

"Oh God" Claudia gagged.

 _ **A naked teen, identified as Nelson, walks through the Eichen House lobby. Orderly Schrader leaves his post in reception to give chase. Kira and Malia use the distraction to enter the office behind the reception and find the electrical room. Scott, Stiles and Liam unzip the body bags and emerge taking deep breaths. It is 7:45 PM. Scott says they have 15 minutes.**_

"It feels like we are about to pull off the biggest heist in history" Stiles laughed.

 _ **With 12 minutes to go, Kira and Malia find the electrical box. In the van outside, with 10 and a half minutes left on his timer, Parrish is attracting unwanted attention from a group of guards. Stiles, Scott and Liam wait for the guards to pass outside the door before they exit the morgue. Back at the electrical box, Kira is stymied because the wires are insulated. Malia grabs a pair of scissors but Kira stops her saying the voltage could kill her. Malia decides to use her claws and slices through the covering on the wires. She gets a shock and her flingers are blackened and smoking.**_

"Don't do that next time" Stiles pointed out. "There won't be a next time" Malia growled and looked away from the teen.

 _ **There are four minutes remaining till Kira needs to cause the brownout. On their way to Lydia, Stiles, Scott and Liam are forced to stop because two orderlies are in the hallway beyond. Liam is eager to "take them." But Scott and Stiles say they can't. A patient in a glass cell starts shouting at them that they took his doctor away. He says he hasn't had his medication because someone took Doctor**_ _ **Conrad Fenris**_ _ **away. Malia says she can smell how nervous Kira is. There are ten seconds remaining. Kira takes hold of the wires but nothing happens. The young patient becomes more and more agitated at Scott, Stiles and Liam. The orderlies' turn their attention to him. Scott flashes his red eyes and fangs at him and the patient gets quiet and backs away.**_

"Nicely done" Derek complimented with a smirk. Scott ducked his head to hide his blush making Allison giggle.

 _ **The orderlies take a side door down the hall and are gone. At three minutes past 8PM nothing is happening with Kira. She says she is scared she'll lose control and fry the system. Malia tries to encourage her. She tells Kira to stop worrying about what she might do and focus on saving Lydia. The lightning flashes from the wires and across Kira's hands. The lights begin to dim. The computers reboot.**_

"Now that's much better pep talk" Scott smiled, his previous shyness now gone. Malia looked at the screen in silence, studying her future self.

 _ **Stiles, Scott and Liam reach the final gate to the closed ward and find that the keycard lock has been removed. Scott and Liam try to push the gate but, weakened by the Mountain Ash barrier, they can barely budge it. Theo's pack makes its move on Eichen House.**_ _ **Tracy**_ _ **takes out the guard at the main gate.**_

"At least she didn't kill the man" Stiles sighed.

 _ **In Theo's lair,**_ _ **Hayden**_ _ **is watching over**_ _ **Deucalion**_ _ **. He tries to convince her to let him go. He offers up details about the Garuda talons Theo picked up from the Desert Wolf. Deucalion claims that Theo plans to attach the claws to his own like "a couple of press-on nails" and use them to steal the Beast's power. He says the plan won't work because the talons were created by the Dread Doctors with a specific frequency for a specific person. He points out that the body will often reject foreign tissue and if Theo puts on the claws it would kill him.**_

"Creating a bit of doubt are we" Talia thought with a smirk.

 _ **Josh takes out an Eichen House guard, siphoning off the power from the man's tazer. Scott and Liam are exhausted from trying to push the gate open. Scott points out that there's too much Mountain Ash. Liam asks Scott to hit him. He explains that if he gets angry he'll be stronger. Scott is hesitant. Stiles encourages him to hit Liam. Liam begins to bait him, reminding Scott that he tried to kill him and wanted him dead. Scott hits him. Liam asks for another and another. Scott really hauls off and hits him. Suitably angry, the pair attack the gate again and this time manage to push it open.**_

"That's one way of managing your anger" Peter chuckled.

 _ **Stiles rushes down the hall and into Lydia's cell. He finds her strapped to the bed with blood oozing from the hole in his head. Lydia tells him that he will die if he stays. Malia and Kira open the door to the office and find a couple of guards in the lobby. They decide to stay put to avoid raising the alarm until Lydia is out. The guards are called away when those assigned to the perimeter fail to respond to radio hails. Stiles is frantically trying to free Lydia. She warns him that Valack is on his way. She again tells him to leave. He refuses but she says he has to go. She begs him.**_

"Listen to me for once" Lydia thought.

 _ **Valack enters the hall and makes his way to Lydia's cell. Stiles is hiding outside the cell behind a gate.**_

Lydia lets out a sigh of relief.

 _ **Theo's pack enters Eichen House and take out Orderly Schrader. In the van outside, Parrish's eyes glow orange. Natalie Martin arrives at Eichen House and tries the buzzer. Getting no answer, she pulls on the gate and it opens. She sees a bloody guard laying on the ground. Malia and Kira go to the lobby. Kira begins to spark as the excess energy in her system begins to fire off just like the last time she was at Eichen for an extended period of time. Malia says they need to get Kira outside. They head for the morgue to meet up with the others. The doctor continues his questioning of Lydia. He says he's amplified her abilities and it might just save her friends. She relays to him how Theo found Scott's symbol carved in the wall. Valack wants to know if Scott put his pack back together and if they're coming to get her. Lydia says someone is coming but it's not Scott. Theo and his pack come down the hall.**_

"Just kill the guy will you" Stiles looked at Theo who was too surprised to respond.

 _ **Stiles is five minutes overtime to get Lydia out so Scott and Liam are trying to power through the**_ _ **Mountain Ash**_ _ **Barrier. Liam points out that Scott's done it before. Scott says that was a life or death situation. Liam indicates that this is too. Scott says there is just too much Mountain Ash. When he did it before it was just a circle, this time half the building is made of the stuff. The wound on Scott's stomach still hasn't healed. It still looks like a ragged hole. The reboot of the computer system is over meaning their keycard won't work anymore. Four security guards attack Scott and Liam with tazer sticks.**_

"Those four are so dead" Mason mumbled.

 _ **Valack is held against the wall by Tracy as he questions why a pack of chimera would want a banshee. Theo says they actually want a hellhound.**_ _ **Jordan Parrish**_ _ **arrives and melts the gate away from its hinges. He enters and his flames subside.**_

"That's….a good plan actually" Noah muttered making Theo smirk.

 _ **As Malia and Kira reach the morgue, sirens begin to blare signaling the lockdown of the facility. Malia grabs for the door handle and is shocked so severely she flies backwards into Kira. On the front porch, metal doors slam down over the windows and the entrance blocking Natalie Martin from coming inside. Scott and Liam are weakened and beaten down by the guard's tazers until Scott roars. The roar echoes through the facility. Malia's eyes glow blue. Scott puts on a burst of strength. Liam follows suit and they overpower their attackers.**_

"The roar of an Alpha" Peter sighed, feeling comfortable at the sound for some reason.


	87. 5-16

_**As**_ _ **Hellhound**_ _ **Parrish advances down the hall,**_ _ **Theo**_ _ **grabs Lydia Martin and places his claws to her throat. He draws blood and warns Parrish to back off.**_

"I don't think that would work" Lydia mumbled out loud.

 _ **The deputy continues to advance. Theo presses his chimera pack to take him. They are reluctant but**_ _ **Tracy Stewart**_ _ **steps up, growls and takes a run at him. She stabs her claws into his stomach but he doesn't seem to notice, batting her away with little effort.**_ _ **Josh Diaz**_ _ **rips away one of the electrical conduits running the length of the hall and grabs the exposed wires inside. He sends a full charge into the hellhound but is also ineffective. Parrish shoves him into the wall.**_

"Dude you're a killer machine" Mason grinned. "Uh yeah..thanks" Parrish said a bit on the uncomfortable side.

 _ **While Theo is distracted,**_ _ **Dr. Valack**_ _ **plunges his trephination drill into the back of the chimera's leg. Theo drops Lydia and Valack pops him in the face with the drill's handle. He takes Lydia.**_

"If you are going to capture her, keep your eyes on the prize!" Stiles groaned. "Right I'll keep that in mind for next time" Theo rolled his eyes.

 _ **Parrish is beating on Josh when**_ _ **Corey**_ _ **becomes visible and grabs his arm. Parrish's body ignites and Corey is consumed in a ball of flames.**_

Mason blinked while Corey winced as if he had felt the burn.

 _ **Stiles Stilinski**_ _ **steps in front of Valack and**_ _ **Lydia**_ _ **to block them but Parrish throws a now flaming Corey, knocking Stiles back and allowing Valack a chance to get by.**_

"Dude!" Stiles groans. "Sorry?" Parrish said, not really sure if he should apologize for something the future other version of him did.

 _ **As Parrish continues his advance, Theo picks up the piece of electrical conduit pipe and hurls it into the Hellhound's chest. Parrish's fire subsides and his eyes return to normal as he sinks to the floor. Stiles manages to roll Corey off and starts to pursue Valack and Lydia but is stopped by a locked door.**_

"Of all things!" Stiles sighs in frustration. "Can it Stilinski" Laura growled. This had turned out to be a very tensed situation and she wanted to watch it without the commentary.

 _ **In a flashback,**_ _ **Liam**_ _ **and**_ _ **Hayden**_ _ **make love.**_

Mason cat called, smacking a furiously blushing Liam on the back. Hayden looked away from the screen with a blush of her own.

 _ **In the afterglow, he asks her to join Scott's pack against Theo. He says he knows Theo wants to steal the**_ _ **Beast of Gevaudan**_ _ **'s power. He says it won't work that the beast will simply rip his head off. She asks if Scott can do better and Liam says he thinks he can because he's different since he died and came back. He asks her what she would want him to do if she died again. Hayden is still guarding**_ _ **Deucalion**_ _ **in the underground lair. He asks if she is questioning her loyalties. He wonders why Theo didn't take her since she's faster and stronger than some in the pack. She says she knows she is a liability because of her feelings for Liam. He tries to get her to leave but she is reluctant. He tells her that he's no friend of Theo's and that she should worry less about being a liability and more about her ability to lie.**_

"Deucalion and his plays with words" Talia chuckled with a shake of her head.

 _ **Still blocked by the**_ _ **Mountain Ash**_ _ **barrier, Scott grabs one of the unconscious**_ _ **Eichen House**_ _ **guards' radios and, pretending to be a guard, asks for a status update on the closed unit. The voice on the other end describes it as a war zone. Scott tries to ask about Lydia but the voice becomes suspicious and Scott crushes the radio.**_

"I really need to teach you how to impersonate a person of authority better" Stiles shook his head in disappointment. Scott on the other hand just huffed at his best friend.

 _ **Scott decides to go find Meredith in hopes of finding a way through the barrier. Stiles is still trying to get through the locked door in pursuit of Valack and Lydia. Theo kicks in the door and tells Stiles he won't find her without him. An Eichen guard finds the broken piece of electrical conduit lying on the floor. Tracy stabs him in the back with her claws. She takes his radio and runs off back down the hall.**_ _ **Malia**_ _ **and Kira are still trapped in the morgue. Lightning crackles around Kira's body and connects with metal objects in the room. Malia suggests grounding her with something but neither one knows how. Kira says she should have stayed with the**_ _ **Skin walkers**_ _ **because she'll never be able to control her abilities. Malia points out that it worked earlier and she was able to cause the brownout. Kira's eyes flash orange and she shouts for Malia to go.**_

"And the fox had to butt in right now" Lydia groaned pulling at her hair.

 _ **Natalie Martin**_ _ **is trapped outside Eichen House. The gate is locked and electrified. She picks up one of the downed guard's tazer stick and looks determined. Scott and Liam find**_ _ **Meredith Walker**_ _ **but she is unresponsive.**_

Scott and Liam sigh in frustration.

 _ **Theo tries again to convince Stiles to let him help find Lydia. They find a shower room full of cowering patients. In the floor there is a grate that they believe leads to miles of tunnels under Eichen. Scott grabs Meredith's hand and begs for her help. Just as he gives up she grabs his hand and places it on the back of her neck. He is reluctant to use his claws to access her thoughts but she is insistent and he inserts them. Kira is still firing off bolts of electricity in the morgue until she collapses, apparently unconscious. Malia is about to check her pulse when Josh shows up and says he can still feel the electricity coming off her. He says he can help Kira if Malia will help a badly burned Corey.**_

"DO it!" Mason blurted out then shrank when Malia turned a glare at him.

 _ **Inside Meredith's mind, Scott follows her down corridors until they find Lydia. In the real world, Liam is waiting as Scott stands stock still, his claws embedded in Meredith's neck. Two orderlies come down the hall checking the cells. Liam slams the door to Meredith's cell and rips off the electronic card reader. He takes out the two orderlies easily but is then confronted by a very large, muscular guard who seems to growl as he rushes toward Liam.**_

"He's so getting beaten to a pulp" Hayden chuckled. "I am not" Liam scowled. "Oh? Well I'll bet you on this. You win and I give you a kiss" Hayden smirked. "And what makes you think I would want to kiss you?" Liam said and instantly regretted it seeing the hurt look on Hayden's eyes and blurted out, "fine it a bet". Mason who was sitting beside Liam was trying his best not to laugh out loud. Stiles on the other hand had no such problems as he laughed out loud.

 _ **Lydia is screaming in Meredith's mind. Meredith warns Scott that Lydia doesn't have much time before her power will consume her due to Valack's trepanation. She says Valack thinks it's worth it if Lydia can reveal the identity of the beast. Meredith say Lydia won't be able to do that until the screams in her head are loud enough to kill her. Meredith says Scott needs to find the Hellhound to get through the Mountain Ash. She says the Hellhound and**_ _ **Banshee**_ _ **are connected and if Scott can find Parrish, he will find the Banshee. Mason is blowing up Hayden's phone. Deucalion continues to try to manipulate her to leave him alone. He says he thinks they're going to be friends with a lot of common ground beneath their feet. She decides to go but first injects him with Tracy's**_ _ **Kanima**_ _ **venom to keep him paralyzed for a couple of hours while she finds Mason.**_

"I wonder how you guys caught him in the first place" Allison asked thoughtfully. "He is blind. I don't think it was that tough" Corey pointed out. Allison looked at the boy and smirked, "I wouldn't make that bet" she said, clearly remembering what a blind Deucalion is capable of.

 _ **Scott removes his claws from Meredith's neck. He hears her whisper once more in his mind, "Save her." The door opens and the large, muscular guard stands there for a moment before collapsing forward into the room. Liam is behind him and once he makes sure the guard is down, he too collapses.**_

"Well I guess I win the bet" Liam said triumphantly. "Don't think so! You're unconscious as well" Hayden smirked back and the two glared off at each other.

 _ **Theo has lost Lydia's scent due to the myriad of chemical and fecal matter smells in the tunnels. Stiles goes off on his own but Theo says Stiles will need to trust him. Stiles points out that he's being asked to trust a guy who killed his sister when he was 9 years old. Theo claims that he was naïve and, when the**_ _ **Dread Doctors**_ _ **showed up and claimed his sister wanted him to have her heart, he believed them. Theo claims he had no idea what was going on when his sister fell in the water and froze to death "in minutes." Stiles says he thinks Theo pushed her and that he liked killing her. Lydia screams somewhere in the tunnels. They can't tell where the sound originates because it's coming from all around them. In an unused laboratory in the Eichen tunnels, Lydia awakes strapped down to a chair. She can hear a multitude of screams in her head. Dr. Valack turns on a device that issues an electronic hum. It seems to quiet the screaming and Valack says she should focus on the sound and his voice alone. Nurse Cross is in a cell nearby, wide-eyed but unmoving.**_

"Eugh" Mason shivered.

 _ **Valack says she wasn't as strong as Lydia. The power cord to Valack's machine, old, frayed and covered in cobwebs, begins to spark. Scott and Liam find**_ _ **Jordan Parrish**_ _ **lying in one of Eichen House's stairwells. He doesn't know how he got there. They explain that the hospital is in lockdown and they are switching to "Plan B" to get Lydia out. They say they need the Hellhound to do it. Corey isn't healing. Malia speculates that it's too much for him or perhaps his pain is blocking him. She offers to take Corey's pain to help him heal if Josh will absorb Kira's extra electricity. They don't trust each other so decide to do it at the same time. She grabs Corey's burnt arm and the veins in her hands begin to blacken as she absorbs the boy's pain. Josh grabs Kira and his body is surrounded by purple lightning as he roars. In the tunnels, Stiles and Theo are both at a loss. Theo claims he wants to save Lydia but Stiles says he has other motives. He says he knows Theo wants Lydia to draw out Parrish and help him take the beast's power. Stiles knows about the claws and the search for Deucalion. Theo admits they already have the blind Alpha. He says he plans to help Parrish defeat the beast, then take its power and break its neck. He says he might not be the good guy but could be the guy that saves all their asses.**_

"I hate that he could be right" Allison moaned, rubbing her forehead. "He isn't" Scott said firmly, no room for arguments.

 _ **Stiles suggests that Theo break one of the pipes along the wall because sound carries better through the enclosed space and they can hear better and find Lydia. He breaks the pipe and they hear Dr. Valack's voice. Doctor Valack says he needs Lydia's help against the Dread Doctors. He says they ruined him, drove him to obsession and consigned him to professional ridicule. People thought he was a monster but he claims he was just trying warn them to the danger of the Dread Doctors. Lydia says he now wants her to be his eyes. He says she'll see things no one else can and, while she might not survive, she could save the lives of her friends. He produces his Dread Doctor's mask. Scott and Liam use a lighter and an aerosol can to fire up Parrish.**_

"That's one way of awakening the hound" Peter blinked in surprise.

 _ **Valack explains that Lydia needs to calm her brain from a "Gamma wave to a Theta" because if he tries the mask on her now it would kill her. He explains that the Dread Doctors have produced an engineered version of the**_ _ **Beast of Gevaudan**_ _ **. He says it's not fully grown and still bound to the teenage chimera inside. It still requires the Dread Doctor's protection. Lydia says**_ _ **Damnatio Memoriae**_ _ **. Valack says the Beast was a man first, a human killer in the late 1700s. He says the Dread Doctors are trying to get it to remember itself. Valack claims that when that happens the teenager inside will be gone.**_

"I hope we find and save him before that" Scott thought, hands clenched into fists.

 _ **Josh helps Corey off the morgue table. He seems to be healed but parts of his skin are still blackened. Malia explains that they're still locked in but there is a Plan B involving Mason. Kira says he's got the blueprint of the building and will find the transformer shed behind the building. Mason is panicking on the phone with Liam's voicemail. The transformer shed is now surrounded by a large metal wall.**_

"Just fucking great" Malia half groans and half growls.

 _ **Theo and Stiles zero in on Lydia. Valack explains to Lydia that the teenager inside the Beast might be someone she knows. He says it was a success where Theo and the others were failures. Lydia says they looked through the list of genetic chimera's and found everyone. Valack says they missed one. Perhaps they overlooked a way that someone could have two sets of DNA. He says if Lydia can see the face of the teenager inside the Beast, then her friends could have a fighting chance. He says his Dread Doctors' mask can help her see. Stiles and Theo arrive outside the laboratory. They begin banging ineffectually on the door. The machine Doctor Valack was using to calm the screams in Lydia's head begins to spark and shuts off. The screaming returns full blast and Lydia begins to lose control. Valack picks up the mask but, as he is about to place it on Lydia's head, she screams. The mask falls away and half of Doctor Valack's head is bloody pulp.**_

"Oh God" Lydia gasped in horror, not believing what she had done. Stiles who was right beside her rubbed her back comfortingly, "hey it isn't your fault. If anything it's his for drilling in your head" he said, trying to calm the girl beside him.

 _ **Theo breaks the door handle and Stiles rushes in. Lydia protests that it is too dangerous but Stiles tells her to shut up and let him save her. Theo finds the Dread Doctor's mask. Mason has decided to ram the wall with his car but just as he works up his nerve, Hayden arrives and stops him.**_

"Thank you thank you thank you THANK YOU" Mason chanted over and over again to an awkwardly sitting Hayden.

 _ **She jumps the enormously high wall and finds the necessary switches to release the lockdown. Hellhound Parrish walks down the hall to the Closed Unit. Scott and Liam follow wondering aloud how he will get through the mountain ash. As he reaches the door, the barrier appears as it does for all supernatural creatures but Parrish burns through it.**_

" .That" Liam grinned.

 _ **Scott says he is burning the mountain ash out of the walls as he passes. The barrier is destroyed and Scott and Liam pass through with ease. Lydia stops as the screams in her head become louder. She yells for Stiles to run as she feels herself losing control. Parrish arrives and tosses Stiles out of the way.**_

"Dude gently" Stiles mumbled. "Next time I'll tell my pal the hell hound to be gentle" Parrish rolled his eyes.

 _ **As Lydia begins to scream he embraces her and flames up. While the scream is loud enough and carries enough force to break bricks and to hurt the others in the hallway, it does not have the deadly effect it had with Valack. Parrish emerges from the smoke and debris carrying Lydia. They race down the hall. Hayden has run into a problem, there are supposed to be two red levers to release the lockdown but there are actually ten red levers. Mason yells for her to pull them all.**_

"Yeah great plan" Hayden rubbed her forehead.

 _ **Liam heads for a locked gate. Scott expresses doubt about Mason's end of the plan. Liam is confident. Hayden pulls all the levers and the lockdown is released, the metal shutters roll up off the windows and doors. Liam reaches the gate and it sparks a little but gives way to his push. The door to the morgue opens and Malia and Kira rush to get Stiles' Jeep. The group escapes through a grate that leads up out of the road in front of the Eichen House gate. Malia and Kira arrive in the Jeep. Scott says they have to get Lydia to the animal clinic. Tracy attacks Parrish and grabs Lydia. She claims she's taking Lydia and there's nothing any of them can do to stop her. Natalie Martin shocks Tracy with the tazer stick she picked up earlier and tells them to get her daughter "out of this hell hole."**_

"Momma Martin cracking in at the right time" Mason laughs. Lydia looked up at the screen and smiled just a little bit, taking note to hug her mom when she returns.

 _ **Scott is having trouble getting the Jeep in gear. Stiles is in the back with Lydia. The noises build up in her head again and a just a tiny scream escapes her tightly pursed lips. It is just a little scream but is enough to break the Jeeps mirror and cause Stiles ears to bleed. Stiles says she's going to make it but she says he isn't, looking to the blood running from his ear down his face. Scott floors it. At**_ _ **the clinic**_ _ **,**_ _ **Dr. Deaton**_ _ **injects**_ _ **Mistletoe**_ _ **into the trepanation hole in her head. Lydia screams, breaking all the windows in the clinics examination room and throwing Deaton, Stiles and Scott to the floor. Lydia is unconscious. Stiles begs her to wake up. Finally, she takes a breath. She seems well. She clasps Stiles' hand tightly and sits up. She sees her mother and they embrace. Lydia says, "He saved my life mom. Stiles saved me."**_

"Of course he did" Noah said, each word oozing with pride while Claudia nodded in agreement with a smile. "Well I had help" Stiles mumbled, trying not to blush at all the attention he was getting right now.

 _ **Theo chastises Hayden for using the Kanima venom on Deucalion saying it was for emergencies only. Hayden felt it was an emergency. Deucalion says dissention in the ranks is perfectly healthy. Theo says he didn't find what he was looking for but thinks Valack's Dread mask might be better. Theo says it may be a way answer the question. Who is the beast?**_

"It probably is" Stiles started, clearing his throat, "with all that vibrations and stuff" he finished earning nods from the rest.


	88. 5-17

_**Parrish**_ _ **says every night he believes he leaves his home. When he wakes each morning there are burned and bloodied clothes but he has no memory of where he goes. Saying he needs to know if he is adding to the body count, he enlists the aid of**_ _ **Chris Argent**_ _ **,**_ _ **Scott McCall**_ _ **and**_ _ **Stiles Stilinski**_ _ **to follow him to find out and stop him if necessary.**_

"That's a good team" Stiles nodded in approval. "You're just saying that because you're there" Allison rolled her eyes. "Why of course" Stiles did a hair flip with his non-existent hair.

 _ **They follow Parrish to the high school where they discover a trail of dead bodies leading to a bus with several dead bodies inside. One person is still alive and begs for help. Scott moves toward the bus but Parrish steps out and, in a voice not his own, warns that it is a trap. The person that was crying out for help is torn in two and half the body thrown to the ground. The**_ _ **Beast of Gevaudan**_ _ **is in the bus.**_

"Poor man. What kind of a monster is this!?" Mason said in horror. "The worst kind" Chris muttered.

 _ **Parrish flames on and runs toward the bus. The Beast runs through the bus and escapes through the front windshield. Parrish pursues. Argent says the Beast is getting smarter.**_ _ **Malia Tate**_ _ **is at the**_ _ **McCall House**_ _ **hiding from the**_ _ **Desert Wolf**_ _ **with**_ _ **Braeden**_ _ **. Malia doesn't think they have much to worry about since her mother has to wait for a full moon to kill her if she wants to steal her power back.**_ _ **Melissa McCall**_ _ **says her new rule is "never be too careful" so she spreads**_ _ **Mountain Ash**_ _ **along the door way to seal the house against supernatural threats.**_

"Good thinking" Chris nodded in approval making Melissa smile slightly.

 _ **Scott and**_ _ **Kira**_ _ **make out at Kira's house. They discuss the upcoming Charity Lacrosse Game. Kira says she is out of practice and they will likely lose. Scott says they won't. The next morning, Kira wakes first and picks up her sword. As she goes through her moves, her eyes glow orange. Scott watches from his place in her bed.**_ _ **Corey**_ _ **is leaving town. Mason tries to talk him out of it. Corey shows what remains of the burns he got from Parrish saying the injuries represent life in**_ _ **Beacon Hills**_ _ **. Mason points out that they are healing, albeit slowly. He says Corey has power, can turn invisible, is strong and fast. He says people like him need people like Corey to protect them. Corey says**_ _ **Mason**_ _ **is too smart to need anyone and that it's the smart ones who always survive.**_

"As true as that is we still need muscles. Just to take the brunt of the hit for us" Stiles joked earning him a cuff on the back of his head from various 'muscles'.

 _ **Mason is confident that Scott will have a plan. He relates the story from "a couple of weeks ago" when Scott brought in cellphone jammers to block the frequencies of the**_ _ **Dread Doctors**_ _ **. This gives him an idea. He realizes that the appearances of the Beast to date have been connected to frequencies, the cell transmission towers, the attack downtown near the Radio Astronomy Observatory and the attack on Deaton at the Army Base with huge radar arrays. He speculates that the Dread Doctors are broadcasting a high frequency transmission.**_

"That…is brilliant!" Scott grinned. "Now that we know how they do what they do we have an upper hand here" Stiles agreed with a grin, "nicely done Mason" he said making the boy duck his head.

 _ **Mason realizes that the charity lacrosse game will attract 2, possibly 3, local TV stations with microwave transmission vans. Corey realizes that means the Beast could be there and Mason believes a lot of people are going to die.**_

"But now we have an idea of how to deal with that so we can deal with it" Allison said with a smile.

 _ **Kathleen Kassidy, a reporter for KQNB, is interviewing**_ _ **Brett Talbot**_ _ **outside the school. They discuss the upcoming charity game between Devenford Prep and**_ _ **Beacon Hills High School**_ _ **. The winning team will take home all the money for their charity and Brett says they intend to win. In the library, Liam tells Lydia, Scott and Stiles about Mason's frequency theory. Scott says he doesn't think it's just the frequency causing the Beast to shift. He explains that Argent said the Beast is getting smarter. He thinks the Dread Doctors may be using the frequencies to make it shift in order to make the Beast grow faster. Lydia draws a parallel to**_ _ **Peter Hale**_ _ **. Scott says Peter, as an Alpha, became stronger with each full moon. He says eventually Peter's burns healed and he was back to normal. Scott surmises that the Dread Doctors want the Beast to be as strong as possible as fast as possible. Liam thinks they want the accelerated growth because of Parrish.**_

"Probably since you would need a hell of a strong demon to take down our hell hound buddy" Stiles said with a grin while Parrish rolled his eyes.

 _ **Stiles says they have one clue to the identity of the beast. The sneaker print from the hospital, covered in Parrish's blood, is a size 10. They don't know the brand because it is only a partial print. They decide to try to get the game cancelled. Liam thinks the game might be an opportunity to figure out the identity of the teenager inside the Beast. Scott feels too many people are at risk and ultimately decides to get the game cancelled.**_

"That is a better idea" Liam agreed.

 _ **As the others leave the library, Lydia senses something and heads off into the stacks. She finds a book on the floor open to an illustration of a man with a spear struggling with a large black dog. Parrish calls to her from one row over. He is badly injured.**_

Chris blinked in surprise. Not at Parrish but rather at the book, it was a part out of the old tale.

 _ **Sheriff Stilinski says he doesn't have the authority to cancel the game. He says he would need to go to the school board with evidence of a credible threat. He suggests they get**_ _ **Coach Finstock**_ _ **to forfeit the game but Stiles explains that he has been in rehab for the past 7 months while they've been stuck with a substitute coach. The sheriff suggests they check on Finstock's progress.**_

"Well there goes that plan" Liam groaned.

 _ **Stiles and Scott find the Coach in the reception area of Stepping Stones, Beacon Hills Rehabilitation Center. Finstock pretends to be catatonic until they touch his checker game when he snaps to and grabs Stiles' arm. He refuses to check out to coach the charity game. Scott says they know he is fine but the Coach says he has a debilitating disease and indicates it is alcohol related. He then admits that he's staying in rehab to avoid taking another arrow to the stomach.**_

"That man I swear" Noah massaged the bridge of his nose.

 _ **He says he's convinced the Stepping Stones folks to let him stay by having relapses, seven of them. He says every time they're about to discharge him, he relapses. He refuses again to coach the game saying he hates charity games because they're meaningless. Scott explains the charity game benefits cancer; the coach wants to know if it's for or against cancer.**_

"What the fuck kind of a question is that!?" Melissa asked in shock and anger.

 _ **Stiles says against, deeply against. Scott says they need him but he says he'll never coach "there" again.**_

"He knows" Chris' eyes widened. "I guess with two werewolves in the team, you can't not figure it out" Scott shrugged.

 _ **Stiles explains that they don't actually need him to coach the game. They want him to forfeit.**_ _ **Gerard**_ _ **and Chris Argent examine Parrish's wounds and determine he is healing slowly. Parrish says he only remembers bits and pieces of his fight with the Beast. He remembers he was losing. Chris tells Lydia and Parrish that he believes resolving Parrish's internal conflict with the**_ _ **Hellhound**_ _ **could help him win the external battle he's losing with the Beast. Gerard wants to put him into a machine to give Parrish and the Hellhound "a proper introduction." Three microwave transmission vans from TV stations are aligned at the game. The bus from Devenford Prep is also in the parking lot. The Argents place Parrish in a device to lower his body temperature below the point that would kill a normal person. They believe slowing down his heart and mind will allow him to consciously access his subconscious mind and the Hellhound. Lydia points out how dangerous this would be. Gerard says it's far less dangerous than if Parrish fails to evolve to face the Beast.**_

"But dangerous nonetheless" Laura fumed. "Anything to take down that thing" Parrish said with so much conviction that the others were too speechless to comment.

 _ **Chris explains that, as the teen chimera continues to transform each night into a very large, very powerful werewolf, it remembers a little more of who it used to be. Gerard says it yearns to know its name. Not just the Beast of Gevaudan but the Man of Gevaudan. Chris says he wants to live again. He says one night the teenager will go out and transform but when it changes back it won't be the teen anymore it will just be the Man of Gevaudan. Lydia points out that**_ _ **Valack**_ _ **says that when the Beast remembers the teenager will be gone. Parrish questions how something like that could even be possible but then, realizing that he is himself impossible, he tells them to forget he asked and gets into the machine. The machine fills with cold fog. Lydia moves toward the machine but Gerard holds her back. Parrish becomes visible in the mist. His eyes glow with fire.**_

"Hello hell hound Parrish" Stiles did a little wave earning him a slap on the back of his head from Lydia.

 _ **In a classroom at School, Scott has each person explain their part of the plan. Mason and Corey are to check the Devenford bus to see if any of their players have bloody sneakers. Malia is to take out the microwave transmitters on the TV vans. Stiles explains that right before the whistle, Coach will forfeit the game. The rest of them will be looking for a size ten shoe with a bloody sole. Malia is worried the plan won't work and they will have to go up against the Beast.**_

"Less pessimism Malia dear" Stiles said cheerfully and promptly shrank into his chair when Malia growled at him a bit too extremely.

 _ **She points out that Scott is still healing from what Theo did to him but Kira says he's not. Scott explains that he healed completely the night they got Lydia out of**_ _ **Eichen House**_ _ **. He says having the pack back together is what did it. Liam points out that the Beast doesn't have a**_ _ **Teen Wolf Pack**_ _ **and Scott agrees. He says they can do it and promises that no one dies tonight.**_ _ **Hayden**_ _ **arrives at the game and takes a seat next to**_ _ **Sydney**_ _ **in the stands. Stiles tells Coach it's time to forfeit the game but Finstock refuses. He says he's never forfeited a game and never will. He blows the whistle.**_

"For fucks sake Bobby you had ONE JOB!" Claudia shouted in outrage stunning the others into surprise silence. "What!?" she snapped at the others who just blinked and looked away, even Noah dared not meet her eyes right now.

 _ **Scott tells Liam they'll be fine. Malia has an hour and a half to take out the wiring on the TV vans. Liam says they have time to find someone with blood on their shoes. Scott points out that it's one person out of 400. Stiles suggests to his father that they call in a bomb threat. The sheriff points out that a similar threat at the airport "three weeks ago" attracted more media to the scene. Brett and Scott prepare to begin the game. Brett explains that his sister,**_ _ **Lori**_ _ **is searching the bleachers for the bloody shoe.**_

"You know with so many werewolves present, why don't one of you just smell for blood?" Hayden asked. "Probably the sweat from all those players are clogging up their noses" Theo said with a snort.

 _ **Corey and Mason break into the Devenford Prep bus and begin going through the player's bags searching for the shoe. With each bag, Mason marks off one of the players on his phone. Malia rips cables from one of the TV Trucks. Kira aggressively tears through the Devenford players and scores. Scott sees her eyes flash orange and says they may have a problem.**_

"May?" Liam squeaked.

 _ **Chris Argent encourages Lydia to try to reach Parrish in the freezing device. She calls out to Jordan but the Hellhound answers, "No." She asks who she is talking to and he says, "**_ _ **Cerberus,**_ __ _ **Garmr,**_ __ _ **Black Shuck.**_ _ **I've had many names." He recognizes Lydia as the**_ _ **Banshee**_ _ **and goes on to say that Jordan Parrish died.**_

"Okay we are not trying the machine" Lydia said instantly shutting up Stiles who was about to say the same thing.

 _ **Kira continues the knock out other players even though she doesn't have the ball. Scott points this out and she, in the voice of her fox spirit, tells him to stay out of her way. Scott and Liam decide to go with the "backup plan." They have Brett knock Kira down and, when she turns on him and knocks his helmet off with her stick, she is removed from the game. She heads into the school saying, in Japanese, "What a dull game." At Scott's behest, Lori follows.**_

"Well that Japanese was nice at least" Stiles said with an awkward shrug.

 _ **Malia finishes pulling the cords from the second TV van and leaps toward the third. She is pulled out of the air and to the ground. She looks up to find her mother, The Desert Wolf standing over her.**_

"Just fucking great" Malia growls.

 _ **Lori calls out to Kira in Japanese. The Fox Spirit replies and mocks the girl's accent. Kira hit's Lori and they begin to fight in the girl's locker room.**_

"From mocking to directly attacking. Man this fox does not mess around!" Mason whistled.

 _ **Malia says she would like to kill her mother but has other things to do at the moment. Her mother has apparently been watching her and asks if she has something against local news. Malia says she knows her mother won't try to kill her until there's a full moon and orders the woman out of her way or people are going to die. The Desert Wolf points out that people die every day and calls Malia "Sweetheart."**_

Malia growls under her breath.

 _ **The Desert Wolf says they could compromise. Malia could come with her and help solve their "little predicament" but Malia says she's going to kill her. Her mother says Malia is definitely her daughter.**_

"Well now we know she didn't get that attitude from me" Peter said with a chuckle. "Trust me Peter, she got that from the both of you" Talia rolled her eyes.

 _ **The Sheriff and Melissa McCall are talking Chimeras. They think they've already located all the genetic chimeras that might be used for Dread Doctor experiments. The Sheriff points out that Valack said there had to be another person who is a genetic chimera with two sets of DNA so there must be someone they overlooked. Corey and Mason have checked 25 pairs of shoes on the Devenford Prep bus and marked all the players off the list without finding a bloody size ten. As a Devenford Player boards the bus, Corey grabs Mason and they both become invisible. Once the player leaves, they take a moment to make out on the bus. During their kiss, something upsets Corey and he breaks off and nervously exits the bus.**_

"Dude so not cool" Liam said lowly looking at Corey who tried not to look at him or his best friend.

 _ **Beacon Hills is losing the game. Liam ends up hurt briefly as the Devenford scores making it 1-5. Scott says they need to keep the game going to give the others enough time. Scott can hear Kira and Lori fighting inside the school. Now each armed with lacrosse sticks, Lori and Kira continue to trade blows and their fight goes from the locker room to the school hallway. Scott arrives and tells Kira to stop but she throws him to the ground. He tries talking to her again but she resists until he growls her name. She's regains control and seems to have no memory of what she's done. Liam tells Brett they need more time and tells him to stop scoring so much. Brett says he's been trying but Beacon Hills sucks so bad that it's impossible to lose against them.**_

"Kick his ass Liam" all Beacon Hills students, current and former say in unison.

 _ **Hayden approaches Liam on the bench and tells him that she is joining with Scott's pack because she believes in him and wants to be with Liam. They kiss. Stiles realizes that Malia hasn't got to all the TV vans and Liam says they'll get her some more time by evening up the score. Stiles is skeptical but Liam says he just needs the ball. The Desert Wolf is still questioning Malia about her desire to make a difference by trying to save a bunch of random people. Liam scores making it 2-5. Liam makes and incredible run down the field, dodging players and scoring pushing it to 3-5.**_

"Yes Liam!" Mason cheered.

 _ **Stiles is under the bleachers trying to check Sydney's shoes for blood but she kicks his head into the bleachers leaving him stunned.**_

"That looked very fun" Stiles rolled his eyes as the strawberry blonde beside him giggled.

 _ **Lydia continues to question the Hellhound about Parrish's "death." The hound says Parrish is just a body, a means to an end. He says he is beyond life and death. He is infinite and has no use for "your deputy." Lydia says they need Parrish. The Hellhound says the deputy won't kill the Beast. Lydia says the Hellhound won't either without Parrish. She says she is a harbinger of death too and knows people are going to die and if the Hellhound doesn't let Parrish in, he, and the Hellhound, will die too. She says the Hellhound needs Parrish. Argent asks Lydia to tell the hound to remember when Parrish died. The hound says Parrish died, "When I was born."**_

"Gee very helpful" Liam mumbled.

 _ **He flashes back to the time Parrish was first blown up in Afghanistan but also sees images of Scott,**_ _ **Allison Argent**_ _ **and Stiles going into the ice bath during their surrogate sacrifices. Parrish begins to roar, the device he's in begins to shake. He shoves the door open and falls out. Lydia catches him. He says he knows who he is and knows what he has to do. He has to leave.**_

"No you do not get to leave deputy" Noah said sternly. "But sir.." Parrish began to explain that it was the future him and that it hasn't happened yet but was interrupted with a stern look.

 _ **Liam scores again and score is tied 5 to 5 as time runs out. The ref says they're going to overtime.**_

"You da man!" Mason roared, slapping Liam on the back hard enough to make him fall over as the others cheered.

 _ **Malia flicks her claws out on her mom. The Desert Wolf remains calm and sees Stiles nursing his sore head near the bleachers. She says that's Malia's "one." Malia turns to look and when she turns back her mother is gone. She leaps to the top of the TV van to finish damaging the last transmitter. Unfortunately, one of the TV engineers has had time to repair the van she damaged earlier and Reporter Kathleen Kassidy wants to go live immediately because the game is so close. As she keys her microphone, feedback fills all the speakers on the field. As the squeal subsides, it is replaced by a growl.**_

"It's always these pesky reporters" Stiles rubbed his face.

 _ **Eyes aglow, Liam takes off toward the row of busses outside the field ignoring Stiles warnings to wait. He leaps just as the Beast flies over the bus. Students flee, into the school. Scott, Kira and Lori watch as they scream past the classroom. Scott closes the door as the Beast runs past. When they open the door again, the room opposite has large claw marks across the door.**_

"That would easily make ribbons out of me and then a few more people standing in the same line" Stiles mumbled under his breath with an absolute look of fear on his face.


	89. 5-18

_**Two men,**_ _ **Marcel**_ _ **and**_ _ **Sebastien**_ _ **, struggle through the rain. The men wear what appear to be French military uniforms and say they are running from British soldiers. Sebastien collapses face down in the mud, Marcel picks him up and helps him to move on.**_

"History lesson" Mason rubbed his hands together in excitement. "Only you would be happy with history lessons" Liam rolled his eyes.

 _ **At some point, Sebastien writes a letter to his sister**_ _ **Marie-Jeanne Valet**_ _ **. He explains that, even with the help of their "Indian" allies, they are losing the war. Montreal has reportedly fallen to the British and both Marcel and Sebastien are injured. The men take shelter in a small shack. A British search party, with dogs, can be heard in the storm outside. The woman inside says they should look elsewhere for shelter because there is a creature of the night at large in the land. She describes it as a "**_ _ **Shapeshifter**_ _ **, a demon." When pressed by Sebastien she says it's a "demon wolf."**_

"The beast of Gevaudan. To think he was a big threat even back then" Corey muttered. "Well he had to be since the people whipped him from existence after he was killed" Mason muttered in reply.

 _ **Outside, the British advance as the rain pours and the lightning flashes. They are taken out one by one by an unseen, growling attacker. One Brit makes it inside but the growls follow and pulls him back out. Sebastien's letter is seen lying on the floor of the shack.**_ _ **Gerard Argent**_ _ **explains that the letter made its way into the hands of Marie-Jeanne. He describes her as a "skilled hunter" and says she would later face the beast with nothing more than a "steel-tipped pike."**_

"And she came out victorious? Man she must have been one skilled huntress" Stiles said with no hidden awe.

 _ **Marie-Jeanne stalks an unseen animal through the snow-covered woods above Gévaudan, France.**_

"She…looks like me" Allison said in surprise and awe. "She was your ancestor. Guess now we know where you got that kickass hunter ability from. No offense Mr. Argent" Stiles said with a sheepish smile while Chris just shook his head.

 _ **Gerard says that she would be known to history as the Maid of Gevaudan. Lydia and**_ _ **Jordan Parrish**_ _ **have been listening to Gerard tell the story. Parrish says maybe somebody should resurrect Marie-Jeanne to take on the beast. He heads for the exit.**_ _ **Lydia**_ _ **asks him to stay but he explains that he is not just a harbinger of death, he's the cause of it. Lydia follows after but Gerard says they should let him go.**_ _ **Chris Argent**_ _ **says Jordan isn't their only hope of stopping the Beast. Gerard believes Lydia may be able to stop it.**_

"You…want me to use the long lost spear?" Lydia asked in surprise. Chris shrugged, "Probably".

 _ **Stiles**_ _ **and**_ _ **Hayden**_ _ **carry a badly wounded**_ _ **Liam**_ _ **into one of the school classrooms. The wounds on his chest and abdomen are deep and ragged. Stiles, almost passes out and then suggests they inflict more pain in order to spur his healing. Hayden kisses him instead and the tell-tale dark lines of pain leave Liam and enter her through the kiss. He falls back apparently no longer in pain.**_

"Much better idea" Liam sighed in relief seeing himself heal while throwing Hayden a grateful look which she returned with a smile.

 _ **Gerard says Lydia and Marie-Jeanne are similar in that they are skeptical of their own abilities and were both once skeptical of the supernatural. In an Inn in Gevaudan, a man is about to tack up a sign that details the search for "LA BETE." Marie-Jeanne fires a crossbow bolt into the sign, tacking it to the wall. He thanks her. Marie-Jeanne reads the letter from her brother and the barman says she should not give up hope. At another table men discuss the attack on an 11-year-old girl, she was torn limb from limb. They discuss the varying descriptions of the beast. Some say it is part hyena, part wolf, that it has red fur, black fur, cloven hooves or a stripe down its back. The barman joins the conversation saying they know it kills at night and targets the head and neck. They say "Where the beast finds a lamb, there it seeks another." They say it never eats its victims, killing for sport which no animal does. There is word that the king is planning to send professional hunters to Gevaudan to kill the beast. Until they arrive the suggestion is to use volunteers for a hunting party. Sebastien arrives in the Inn and says the best hunter in Gevaudan is Marie-Jeanne. Brother and sister embrace. Marcel tells the barkeep he will still have a job. The old man looking for volunteers to hunt the beast agrees with Sebastien and asks Marie-Jeanne to lead the search for the beast. The other patrons in the bar begin to chant her name. Marie-Jeanne plays it off as a joke, saying she hunts animals not rumors. The laughter dies down when a man carrying the body of a young boy enters the inn. Emile is the barkeep's son. His last words were "La Bete." Marie-Jeanne says she does not know what creature is responsible for the death but she will lead the hunting party at dawn.**_

"She was brave and righteous" Allison muttered to herself. "Like someone else we know" Scott whispered into her ear making her smile.

 _ **In**_ _ **Beacon Hills**_ _ **, the beast throws Scott into a wall at the school. He's quickly back on his feet and turns to face it but the beast scurries off to another part of the school. Scott gives chase. Lydia wonders why Sebastien didn't warn Marie-Jeanne about the beast. Gerard says they'd talked about everything he'd seen during the war but Marie-Jeanne was a skeptic. Early morning the hunting party is gathering their weapons at the inn. Marie-Jeanne is chiding her brother for being superstitious. He assures her he saw it with his own eyes. Marie-Jeanne says she's been through every inch of the woods and hunted every creature under the sun. Marcel points out that she's not hunted under the moon. Sebastien says she will need more than ordinary steel to stop the beast.**_

"Is this where the myth about silver comes from?" Stiles asks. Chris nods, "they say that the pike or spear whatever it was made from pure silver".

 _ **As the hunters set out, Marie-Jeanne sees Marcel locking the cellar door.**_

"Not suspicious at all" Hayden muttered.

 _ **Gerard says they hunted from dawn to dusk searching for the beast as it slept. It was just after midnight when the first torch went out. The hunting party is attacked one after the other. Marie-Jeanne looks into the darkness trying to get a bead on the beast. She manages to hit the beast with an arrow. She gets scratched and drops her crossbow. She pulls out her knife. She spies the beast's glowing white eyes and prepares for its attack. Henri comes running from the darkness, tells Marie-Jeanne to get down and casts a circle of**_ _ **Mountain Ash**_ _ **dust. The beast slams into the barrier but can't get through. The beast runs away. Henri explains that the beast is a werewolf.**_

"Henri knew quite a lot" Stiles muttered. "He was a firm believer in the supernatural. He did his studies well" Chris said.

 _ **Malia Tate**_ _ **is making her way through the screaming throng of students running through the hallways at the high school. She grabs a guy and slams him against the wall, demanding to know where Stiles is. He doesn't know. She takes out her phone and calls Braeden and tells her to bring all her shotguns to the school. A girl falls in the hallway and backwards crabwalks away from the approaching beast. Scott grabs her and throws her roughly into a classroom and barricades the door with his body. The beast is right outside the door. Scott yells at the girl to go out the window. She does, just before the beast rips the door and Scott out of the room.**_

Rafael and Melissa both winced at that. "I'll be fine guys. I'll heal" Scott said with as much conviction as he could. "I'd prefer you not get hurt regardless of whether you can heal or not" Melissa said honestly, Rafael agreeing from beside her.

 _ **Lydia senses something and almost collapses. Chris catches her but she wants to leave because something is wrong. Gerard says she should hear the rest of the story. Lydia says everything she's read says the beast was killed by**_ _ **Jean Chastel.**_ _ **Gerard says the internet got it wrong. Chris says Gerard knows the story better than anyone.**_

"Probably been reading it like it was a story from the bible or something" Stiles muttered. "He read it to us as bedtime stories as well" Chris said, referring to him and Kate.

 _ **Henri brought Marie-Jeanne to his home which was protected by a circle of Mountain Ash trees. He has more Mountain Ash and**_ _ **Mistletoe**_ _ **in small bottles on his table. He says he's been gathering the knowledge and supplies to survive a werewolf. He offers to teach Marie-Jeanne but she says she doesn't want to "survive" one. She wants to kill one.**_

"So it was a joint effort" Allison muttered. "Marie-Jeanne might have killed the beast but she couldn't have done it without Henri" Chris said with a nod.

 _ **Scott runs to the Library.**_ _ **Sydney**_ _ **and more than a dozen other students are hiding behind shelves and book carts. The Beast growls and Scott urges them to go upstairs before it gets to the Library. They make it to new hiding places just before the beast comes in. Scott's eyes flash red as he growls back.**_

"Please don't die on us permanently this time" Melissa prayed silently. Till now she was comforted by the fact that her son was safe with so many friends around and manageable threat around him, even if he had died a few times, he was still brought back because he wasn't really dead and she knew it. But right now he was fighting an enemy so old that she knew it was out for blood and did not toy around with its enemy like Peter or Deucalion did, even if they didn't exactly toy around.

 _ **Gerard explains that Marie-Jeanne knew she couldn't just arm a new hunting party with "mistletoe and rowan berries." She needed an advantage. Marie-Jeanne pours wine for everyone in the inn and says she expects everyone to drink in honor of the dead. The drink appears to have a bitter taste. Marcel breaks his glass cutting his hand.**_

"Wolfsbane wine. Clever. Clever indeed" Chris nodded in approval of her methods.

 _ **Marie-Jeanne takes him outside to the well to wash the blood away. She asks for a cloth to wrap his wound but instead he gives her the key to the cellar saying she'll find what she is looking for in there. She takes the key, opens the door, descends and finds a pile of dead bodies. She returns to Marcel with crossbow drawn. He begs her to kill him. He reaches for the bow and the arrow flies up and away as Marie-Jeanne jerks back. Seeing his blood on the snow, she realizes that Marcel is not the killer, merely covering for him. Inside the inn, Sebastien begins to cough and gasp. His eyes glow white.**_

"Her own brother" Allison said wide eyed.

 _ **Gerard says the maid confronted her brother the moment she walked back in. She says he's killed children. He says he kills whatever there is that crosses his path. He says it's what he is, what he has become. He apparently drank rain water from the paw print of the wolf while running from the British in Canada. He says, according to the old story, when you drink from the print you become the demon wolf.**_

"That can actually happen?" Mason asked skeptically. "Apparently that's the story" Chris shrugged. He wasn't a firm believer of this certain transformation method.

 _ **While hiding from the British, Sebastien transformed and killed the woman in the shack and all the soldiers outside. At the inn, Sebastien dares his sister to tell the others that he is the beast. He promises to tear them apart in a matter of moments. Marie-Jeanne is in tears as Sebastien kisses her on the head, promises that she'll never catch him and walks away.**_

"Poor woman" Claudia said in sympathy.

 _ **Gerard explains that Marie-Jeanne and Henri worked together to figure out how to kill the beast. Henri says they need a weapon that will use the beast's weight against itself. They forge a steel spear tip in the shape of a fleur-de-lis. Marie-Jeanne's blood runs down the blade as she places it on the staff.**_

"You think it was actually steel and not silver" Stiles asked. Chris shrugged, "some say it was steel and that the blood is the real reason she was able to kill him while others believe it was silver. I myself believe it was silver" he explained.

 _ **Scott is getting beaten badly by the beast in the Library but keeps coming back for more.**_

Both parents winced watching their son get pummelled.

 _ **As Scott turns to face the creature once more, Liam leaps from behind and drives his fists into the beast's head.**_ _ **Braeden**_ _ **follows up with several shotgun blasts and Malia runs toward the fray. Apparently having had enough of the fight, the beast leaps through the library's giant window and into the night. Braeden chides Scott for going up against the beast. He admits he knew he didn't have a chance but did manage to get its scent.**_

"That head on tackling attitude is going to get you killed one day. And I don't think we can bring you back from that" Melissa said with a hint of anger, worry and fear in her voice. Scott hugged his mother close, "I'm not leaving you before my time. I promise" he said gently, rubbing her arm.

 _ **According to Gerard, Marie-Jeanne hunted Sebastian for three years, finally cornering him in 1767. Marie-Jeanne runs through the snow apparently fleeing from her brother who is in human form with an arrow sticking out of his arm. As he follows, black, smoke-like shadows rise from the snow and coalesce around him to form the beast. As the beast is now quite close, Marie-Jeanne slides along the ground and picks up the spear that was hidden in the snow. She quickly turns to face Sebastien. Momentum carries the beast onto the spear which protrudes out his back. Sebastien becomes human again and calls the spear sticking through his body a "minor injury." He says he will recover and kill everyone they know and history will remember his name. Marie-Jeanne explains that no one will remember. He realizes she's talking about Damnatio Memoriae and becomes angry that she plans to take his name. He suddenly starts bleeding black goo and realizes that the spear has substantially damaged him. Marie-Jeanne explains that the spear is not ordinary steel,**_ _ **Wolfsbane**_ _ **and Mountain Ash, forged with her blood under the light of a full moon.**_

"That is a bad ass spear" Stiles said with a grin. "It was" Chris muttered.

 _ **Marie-Jeanne kisses him and declares that history might remember Sebastien, but only as a beast. Sebastien falls in the snow and dies. Marie-Jeanne takes her spear and walks away. Chris explains that Sebastien was erased from history, every signature, every possession. Gerard says they burned it all. He says the name Sebastien Valet has been forgotten for more than 150 years. Chris says when the beast remembers who it is the teenager inside is forgotten, gone forever. Lydia points out that Marie-Jeanne did not defeat the beast alone. She had the help of Henri, the magistrate, the whole town and even Marcel. She says they need Parrish. Jordan Parrish leaves his gun and badge on the Sheriff's desk and walks out. Lydia wants to find Parrish but Chris says he's dangerous because he is a shapeshifter who's only learning how to use his power. Lydia thinks she's in the same position but Chris says they're not the same. He says Lydia can access the supernatural, it works through her, but she isn't controlled by it. Lydia confronts Gerard about why he is suddenly on their side. He slides her a lighter with a fleur-de-lis etched in the side and explains that Marie-Jeanne married Henri Argent. She was the first of the**_ _ **Hunters**_ _ **. Lydia exits saying she is not an Argent and she's not**_ _ **Allison**_ _ **.**_

"Harsh" Allison said with a cold look at her friend who shrank into herself. "Mr. Argent I.." she began but was stopped with a raised hand and a head from Chris. "I can guess that the me in the future probably saw you like Allison since you two are alike in many ways and so you saying that makes sense. You don't need to apologise" he finished with a small smile which Lydia returned with a forced smile of her own, still feeling guilty about what her future version said.

 _ **Liam chases after Scott concerned about his injuries. Scott races to the school parking lot, following the scent of the beast. It leads him to a car. Scott pries open the trunk and finds the bloody size ten shoe they've been looking for. It's Mason's car and he shows up and asks them what they're doing. Before they can tell him he's the beast,**_ _ **Corey**_ _ **becomes visible behind him and grabs him. They both become invisible and run away.**_

The whole room goes into stunned silence and slowly looked at Mason who had gone wide eyed from shock and was furiously working his mouth but no sound came from it. Liam put a hand on his shoulder but before he could say anything, Mason fainted, falling face first into the ground.


	90. 5-19

"Mason!" Liam screamed and quickly pulled Mason back to his chair. "Wake up buddy" Liam said slapping his best friend on the cheek lightly. Almost everyone was now crowding the unconscious boy, looking at him in worry. "Someone get some water quick!" Corey said beside him, holding Mason's hand. As soon he said that, a jug appeared over Mason and the contents were poured down on the boy and then the jug vanished. Mason spluttered awake and looked at Liam, "dude don't wake me like that!" he said with a groan, rubbing his eyes. "I had this weird dream that I was this beast of Gevaudan who ran around killing…it wasn't a dream was it" Mason said once he looked at Liam properly who was biting his lip and looked nervous. Liam shook his head, "dude.." he couldn't say anything else. "You have to kill me then" Mason blurted out much to the shock of everyone present, "kill me before I kill them" he said seriously looking at everyone. "No one is going to die" Scott said taking a step forward. "But I'm a threat" Mason said. "So was I" Stiles said taking a step forward, "and no one gave up on me. And no will give up on you. We will find a way to stop this. It hasn't happened yet and sure as hell won't happen again" Stiles promised and looked at Scott who nodded his head. "We won't let this happen" Scott said reassuringly followed by nods of approval from the rest of the people in the room except Peter and Theo. Peter because he felt like the kid should be put down right now while Theo just wanted the alpha's powers for himself for which they both got soaked by water from the magic jug.

It took a while but after Mason had calmed down enough and the rest had settled in, the show began again.

 _ **Corey**_ _ **and**_ _ **Mason**_ _ **are asleep in each other's arms in the tunnels beneath**_ _ **Beacon Hills**_ _ **. Mason shakes awake. Corey explains that he brought him underground because Scott can't track his scent down there. Mason doesn't want to accept that he's the**_ _ **Beast of Gevaudan**_ _ **but Corey says he felt something after they turned invisible on the bus. It was Mason who figured out that transmissions and frequencies played a role in the Beast's manifestations. He then forces Mason to recall where he was during each of the Beast's appearances. Mason doesn't remember.**_

"Yeah we expected him not to" Stiles whispered to himself, chewing his nails.

 _ **Mason realizes that the**_ _ **Dread Doctors**_ _ **can still track his unique frequency. They do, appearing in the tunnels and giving chase. The boys escape to the rain-soaked street above where they are once again surrounded by the Dreads. Corey turns Mason invisible but**_ _ **The Surgeon**_ _ **strikes out with his cane and knocks him unconscious. The doctors take Mason.**_

"I'm so sorry" Corey rubbed his face. "You tried your best man" Mason rubbed his back gently but couldn't console him properly being afraid for his own safety.

 _ **Theo**_ _ **, Tracy and Deucalion discuss the Dread Doctor mask stolen from**_ _ **Valack**_ _ **'s operating room. They want**_ _ **Josh**_ _ **to put it on since his powers are electrically-based and the properties of the mask are based in electromagnetism.**_ _ **Deucalion**_ _ **says the mask was originally manufactured by The Surgeon using "practices at the farthest edges of pseudoscience." The process harnessed electromagnetic fields in the masks "infusing them with a unique and deadly power." Josh refuses to put it on.**_

"He is smart not to" Talia nodded her head. She had only heard rumors of what the mask could do and it wasn't pretty. Plus she had seen what happened to the nurse and then the pain Malia faced. These were chimeras, not real supernatural creatures. Hence the effects could be deadly for them.

 _ **Jordan Parrish**_ _ **is heading out of town.**_ _ **Lydia Martin**_ _ **and the Sheriff want to stop him. The Sheriff reports that Parrish was spotted near the highway.**_ _ **Sheriff Stilinski**_ _ **deployed a**_ _ **spike strip.**_ _ **Parrish drives over it and it shreds his tires. The Sheriff is waiting nearby. Lydia arrives moments later. The both try to get Parrish to stay but he is adamant that, if he does, a lot of people are going to die. Lydia points out that her visions of death don't always come true. The Sheriff adds that him leaving might be the cause of the deaths he's been seeing, because he wasn't around to protect them.**_

"That's a good point. And probably the reason he would end up staying" Stiles mused out loud. Parrish rolled his eyes but even he knew that it would be enough to stop him.

 _ **Scott**_ _ **is still recovering from his run in with the beast.**_ _ **Kira**_ _ **helps him to bed where he sees his application for a scholarship. He failed to send it in before the deadline. Kira says they'll figure it out but first he must heal. Stiles enters. Kira nods. Stiles closes the door. In the hallway of the**_ _ **McCall House**_ _ **, Malia and**_ _ **Braeden**_ _ **inform Stiles that**_ _ **The Desert Wolf**_ _ **may want to kill him too. He asks for a gun and makes his case that he should have one.**_

"Yeah no one is giving you a gun" Noah said stubbornly much to ire of Stiles.

 _ **Braeden removes the clip from her pistol and tosses it to Stiles. He bumbles it and drops it to the floor. He decides he shouldn't have a gun.**_

Noah smirked triumphantly while Stiles just dropped his head in defeat.

 _ **Liam**_ _ **is looking for Mason in the woods. He finds**_ _ **Hayden**_ _ **instead and they set out together to find their friend. Scott wakes up the following morning fully healed. Kira, Malia, Liam, Lydia and Stiles are in the kitchen discussing the search for Mason. The sheriff has issued an All-Points Bulletin for Mason. Liam still thinks his friend might not be the Beast. Hayden is at school looking for him. Malia volunteers to search the woods while Scott joins the conversation and says his mom can check all the hospitals in the county. Scott says they will find him and figure out a way to save him.**_

"And we will" Scott said having seen the worried looks of Mason ad Liam.

 _ **Lydia wants to know where else they can look. Scott says they should ask Corey and, reaching behind him, yanks the invisible boy forward. Corey becomes visible and explains that the Dread Doctors have Mason.**_

"You really need to learn to mask your fears" Theo sighed. Corey looked at the pseudo coyote then back at the screen.

 _ **Mason hits the floor in the Dread Doctors Lair. He props himself up next to the bubbling tank with the body inside. They attach a long, glowing tube with a needle to the back of his neck. Mason screams in pain.**_

Mason winced at seeing himself like that while Lia rubbed his back in comfort and Corey held his hand.

 _ **Tracy**_ _ **brings Theo the jar of garuda talons he got from the Desert Wolf. Theo says they're useless unless they have the beast. Deucalion says they're just useless as he explained to Hayden. He suggests that Hayden and Corey have deserted Theo. Josh steps and says he's leaving. Tracy blocks him. Deucalion continues to play on his theme of Theo's dwindling pack. He orders Tracy to paralyze Deucalion's tongue. Before she can, he turns his manipulations on her. He questions her about how powerless she was before her transformation. He says the truly powerless are always all too willing to demonstrate their newfound strength.**_

"Right on the head" Stiles said with a smirk.

 _ **He then shows that he's been a willing captive all along. Saying again that he want's Scott McCall's eyes, he tears out the wolfsbane drip attached to his arm and explains that he "let" them take him in the first place.**_

"I smell a plan brewing" Stiles said and looks straight at Talia who seemed to be the only one who was watching Deucalion unlike the rest. She did not meet his eyes or even look at him, but the smile on her face was all the confirmation Stiles needed.

 _ **Ken Yukimura**_ _ **warns Kira that putting her sword back together would be dangerous. She argues that she needs her sword. He argues that the sword, although it brings out her fox spirit, is just a weapon. She is the critical part to saving her friends but needs to find balance. She says she has "800 years to find balance" but needs to help Mason immediately. Mr. Yukimura explains that Kira's sword was forged with a "unique power" and it takes a unique power to put it back together and that Kira will need help. Deucalion says he'll show Theo how to take the power of another werewolf. He begins by breaking Theo's arm. He explains that pain is the secret to taking power. "Take their pain, take their life, take their power." "You take till there's nothing more to give. That's where you find the spark of power. Then, you take that as well. Pain, life, power in that order and only that order." Theo resets the bones in his arm and says he understands "perfectly." He then jabs his claws into Josh, taking his power and killing him.**_

Stiles blinked as did Scott and Lydia. It seemed to them that Deucalion was diminishing their enemy numbers. But why they were not sure.

 _ **Deucalion points out that he just cost himself another member of a "small and inexperienced pack." Theo turns to Tracy and asks what she thinks. She says Josh was "small and inexperienced." She also points out that, with Josh's power, Theo can now wear the Dread Doctor's mask. Parrish and Lydia return to the**_ _ **Nemeton**_ _ **. Parrish flashes back on his dreams. He touches the tree. Lydia touches his arm and Parrish has a vision of her dead at the stump. An orange glow begins to suffuse the rings of the tree.**_

"That was cheerful" Lydia said, not so impressed.

 _ **Deucalion encourages Theo to put on the mask saying the kind of power he seeks requires risk. He tells him to "discover the beast's identity and guarantee your place as an Alpha, as a real werewolf." Theo puts on the mask and begins to scream. Scott and Liam meet up with Theo and Tracy in the locker room at school. Theo explains that he didn't see Mason when he put on the mask. He says they all want the same thing which is to get Mason back. Scott says they want him back alive. Theo says he's open to compromise. He wants the map of Beacon Hills telluric currents and tells Scott to bring it to the Dread Doctor's old lair in two hours. Deucalion is also in the locker room. After Scott and Liam exit he explains that Theo and Tracy will need them if they want Mason to trust them. He says Theo can only take the power from the beast, not from Mason, which means they'll need to get up close after he transforms. Theo says Tracy will need to paralyze him. She argues that her venom didn't work on Parrish. Deucalion says that's because he is a**_ _ **Hellhound**_ _ **but the beast is still a werewolf.**_

"Your flames probably burned the venom right out of you" Stiles shrugged when Parrish opened his mouth to say something. Parrish just nodded, surprised at how easily Stiles figured out what he wanted to know.

 _ **Stiles, Lydia and the Sheriff discuss the merits of using Theo to help find Mason. They all agree that he is also using them. Stiles says they're covering all the places Mason could show up. Malia and Braeden are at Scott's house.**_ _ **Melissa McCall**_ _ **is covering the hospital while Hayden and Corey are at school. Theo explains to Scott and Liam that the body the Dread Doctors keep in the bubbling tube is called "Der Soldat" or "The Soldier" in German. He was apparently a Nazi Alpha Werewolf that the doctors have been keeping alive in order to prolong their own lives.**_

"I'm not sure what's worse. How the doctors kept themselves alive or that there is a Nazi alpha werewolf" Allison said pulling a face. "Both. Both are worse" Lydia said making a face of her own.

 _ **Theo says that wherever the Dread Doctor's new lair is, Der Soldat will be there too. He says keeping the Nazi Werewolf alive requires the bubbling tube be set up with a power source and on a convergence of telluric currents. They decide it must be in the**_ _ **Beacon Hills Preserve**_ _ **. A teenager comes into the hospital with severe injuries. Melissa thinks for a moment it might be Mason but it's not. Malia and Braeden are at the McCall house. Braeden has established a**_ _ **Mountain Ash**_ _ **barrier to keep the Desert Wolf out but Malia feels trapped and says she might lose her mind. Lydia, by phone from the Sheriff's office, explains that the ash is there to keep her safe. Malia says she should be keeping Stiles safe.**_

"As much as I would love that, you need to stay safe too. You can't charge in because your…er the desert wolf might capture you and torture you till the full moon before killing you" Stiles said. Malia just hissed but didn't say anything else.

 _ **Outside the Sheriff's Station, The Desert Wolf is listening to their phone call. Hayden tries to comfort Corey at school. Braeden is eating pistachios. As she shells them, she arranges the half shells in a straight line along the table. Lydia, Stiles and the Sheriff wait for word at the Sheriff's Station. After nightfall, Scott, Liam and Theo walk through the woods. Scott asks about Deucalion, telling Theo not to trust him. He points out that Scott is the one who let him live. Scott says that's because he's not a murderer. Theo laughs at the idea that Scott thinks he can get through the current crisis without killing someone.**_

"At least not the innocent" Scott said and looked at the Theo in the room who did not look at him.

 _ **Liam catches Mason's scent and says they're close. He hesitates, saying Theo wants to kill Mason. Theo claims he only wants his power. He says Parrish is the only one who wants to kill Mason. Liam questions Theo further about who he saw when he put on the Dread Doctor's mask. Theo explains he saw a man dying in the snow impaled on a pike. Liam reluctantly points them in the right direction. They find an old wooden door and pause, listening. They can hear a heartbeat and Liam says it's Mason. They descend into the lair and find Mason attached, by the glowing tube needle, to the bubbling tube of Der Soldat. Kira leaves a voicemail for Scott explaining that she has to leave to help find a way to save Mason but that she will be back to help. Mason says he can feel the needle in his skull. They try to remove it but he screams in pain at the merest touch.**_

"Right no pulling" Liam mentally checked himself.

 _ **Stiles is asleep on the couch in his dad's office. Lydia wakes him and they both check their phones looking for updates on Mason. Melissa arrives and explains that they missed Mason on the genetic chimera list because he had absorbed a twin while in his mother's womb.**_

"Okay that's cool if you think about it" Stiles mumbled.

 _ **He had two sets of DNA, his own and the bits of the twin that remained in his body. She has an ultrasound image of a normal sized fetus with another, smaller fetus attached. They don't know if this new information will help save Mason but Melissa says it's "just bizarre enough to sound like it might be important."**_

"Knowing what we go up against? It probably is" Scott said with a chuckle.

 _ **The Dread Doctors return. The Surgeon mocks Theo as a failure but also near miss. He says they learned from Theo. Scott says they can't take on the Dreads but Theo says he's taking Mason. After a call from Stiles, Malia yells to Braeden that something is wrong and they need to go. She stops in the hallway upstairs at the McCall House when she senses her mother nearby. Braeden is down stairs and sees the mountain ash barrier across the kitchen door has been broken. Tracy is outside smiling as she walks away. The Desert Wolf is in the house.**_

"Fuck that girl" Malia snarled.

 _ **Gerard**_ _ **and**_ _ **Chris Argent**_ _ **discuss the beast's identity. Chris wants to tell Scott "the rest" but Gerard says they don't have to. Chris says "the pike" could save him. Gerard says it will kill him. Gerard believes the boy is already gone. They don't actually know where the pike ended up. Chris says it might have been melted down and turned into a cup. Gerard thinks it's close and they'll find it. Parrish joins them, his eyes glow a fiery orange. The Surgeon continues to mock Theo saying he has "the entitlement and narcissism typical of your generation." Liam tries to remove the spike from Mason's neck. Mason screams, a lot. The head Dread further explains that Theo's failure taught them an important lesson. It taught them the banality of evil. He says Theo will always be an ordinary evil. They thought they needed perfect evil to resurrect the perfect killer but found that corrupting something truly good actually did the trick.**_

"Even the evil guys call you evil!" Stiles exclaimed making Theo roll his eyes.

 _ **Theo and the Dreads fight. Liam joins in and Scott tries to stop him. Mason manages to stand. He reaches behind him and pulls out the needle himself. He begins to transform. His eyes glow a whitish blue. The Dreads are thrilled at this "transformation without frequency." The clouds of shadow form around Mason and the beast comes into focus.**_

"Shit" Scott, Liam and Theo surprisingly say in unison.

 _ **The Desert Wolf stalks Braeden through the McCall house. Braeden has spread her pistachio shells across the floor. Malia's mom breaks one and Braeden strikes. They wrestle over the shotgun discharging the weapon into the ceiling below Malia's feet. Braeden knocks her opponent to the floor and escapes. She reestablishes the mountain ash barrier across the doorway, trapping the Desert Wolf inside with her daughter.**_

"Now fuck her!" Malia growls.

 _ **Kira has returned to the desert. She lays out the pieces of her sword and calls out to the**_ _ **Skinwalkers**_ _ **for help. They appear from the darkness and say they can help her but it will come at a cost. The beast is ripping apart the Dread Doctors.**_

"Well that was a twist" Stiles blinked.

 _ **The Geneticist**_ _ **lays on the floor twitching and dripping liquid from one of the masks many tubes. The beast picks up**_ _ **The Pathologist**_ _ **and rips off its head. It rolls across the floor landing at Theo and The Surgeon's feet. The beast knocks Theo aside, stabs The Surgeon with its enormous claws and drags it outside. Scott and Liam follow as the Beast drops the Surgeon on the ground. Parrish, on fire, attacks the beast from behind. Chris begins firing large shells at it. The Beast begins to transform. Instead of Mason, Sebastien is standing in the moonlight.**_

"Oh shit" Mason mumbled in horror.

 _ **Gerard calls out that he knows its name and asks if Sebastien remembers his name. Sebastien says "Argent" and runs away into the shadows. Parrish chases after him. Scott is confused wanting to know who came out of the Beast. Gerard explains that it was the "man of Gevaudan." Chris explains it was**_ _ **Sebastien Valet**_ _ **.**_

"The actual beast of Gevaudan" Mason rubes his face with both hands.


	91. 5-20

_**Jordan Parrish**_ _ **pursues**_ _ **Sebastien Valet**_ _ **.**_ _ **Gerard**_ _ **and**_ _ **Chris Argent**_ _ **follow behind in an SUV. Gerard has the Surgeon's cane/sword. He says it is the pike**_ _ **Marie-Jeanne Valet**_ _ **used to kill the beast in the 18**_ _ **th**_ _ **century.**_

"How does he know that?" Stiles asked with narrowed eyes. "Gerard has his ways" Chris shrugged.

 _ **Chris questions if the cane/sword will kill**_ _ **The Beast**_ _ **. Gerard says, "You're damn right it will."**_

"If he wasn't as much of an evil bastard as he is, maybe I could have liked him" Allison sighed.

 _ **Stiles comes to**_ _ **Dr. Deaton**_ _ **for help saving Mason. Scott and**_ _ **Liam**_ _ **arrive with**_ _ **The Surgeon**_ _ **who is apparently still alive after being attacked by the Beast.**_

"I feel like bringing him along was a bad idea" Liam muttered.

 _ **Theo**_ _ **is badly injured after his last run in with the Beast.**_ _ **Tracy**_ _ **helps him back to his lair. Theo seduces and kisses her. She apologizes because she's "not like the others" and therefore can't take his pain away. He stabs his claws into her to take her power. She struggles but he manages to absorb her power and kill her.**_ _ **Deucalion**_ _ **says, "And then there were none."**_

"That is the only death I would thank you for" Stiles muttered honestly, much to the shock of the others.

 _ **A near-naked dead body lies in the road. Sebastien is in a car. The device is unfamiliar to him until he manages to access Mason's memories and "remembers" how to drive.**_

"Good to know my mind is of some help to the mass murdering psychopath" Mason said sarcastically.

 _ **At the**_ _ **McCall House**_ _ **,**_ _ **Malia Tate**_ _ **is still upstairs, she starts to dial**_ _ **Stiles Stilinski**_ _ **.**_ _ **Her mother**_ _ **is downstairs taunting her that she should call Stiles, call all her friends, and threatens to kill as many people as she must to get to her daughter. Malia turns off her phone.**_

"You call us whenever you need to. No matter what the idiot of an enemy you face say" Stiles said looking at Malia who just shrugged. Stiles sighed, he knew he got his message through and that was enough for now.

 _ **Scott**_ _ **wants to keep the remaining Dread Doctor alive. Deaton says he's not sure The Surgeon is technically alive at all. Liam says they need to interrogate him. Stiles suggests they don't use torture enough.**_

"I hope we make an exception" Liam muttered.

 _ **The werewolves can hear Sebastien's voice in their heads. He says, "Come to me." The Surgeon sits up on the exam table and begins to emit a loud frequency that shakes the building. Scott and the rest cover their ears. Liam starts to attack the Dread Doctor but is repulsed by an electromagnetic pulse from its hand. The Surgeon exits the building and closes the doors with a similar pulse. It magnetizes portions of the building causing the metal table and other implements to fly toward the exit. A power cable breaks, electrifying the magnetized barricade of metal and blocking Liam and Scott from giving chase.**_

"Just fucking great" Scott growled.

 _ **Sebastien approaches the Surgeon and removes his mask. While he is mostly an unrecognizable skeleton underneath, the Surgeon is actually Sebastien's friend**_ _ **Marcel**_ _ **.**_

"Eugh gross" Lydia gagged.

 _ **Sebastien says that if he is what immortality looks like, he might have been misled. Marcel says he did it all for Sebastien. Uninterested in his friend's sacrifice, Sebastien wants to know where the pike that killed him is now. He says, "The Argents," collapses and dies. Inside, Scott and Liam are eavesdropping and realize that he's talking about the cane.**_

"At least we know where he is headed next" Scott sighs. "Yeah we can easily set an ambush" Liam grinned. "Set an ambush? Yes. Easily? Not likely" Stiles muttered.

 _ **Parrish has lost Sebastien's trail. Realizing that he must know they have the pike, Gerard suggests they stop chasing him and make him come to them.**_ _ **Braeden**_ _ **has her laser-sighted pistol aimed into the darkened McCall living room. When The Desert Wolf makes a move, she fires but misses. Corinne says she'll get another chance but had better make sure it's a "headshot." Malia moves down the upstairs hall. Her mother can hear her moving. Braeden warns her to stay put.**_

"Like that would ever work" Lydia muttered while Malia smirked.

 _ **Scott, Stiles, Deaton and Liam discuss how Mason's "vanishing twin" might factor into saving him. They figure that, just like**_ _ **Mason**_ _ **still had the DNA of the twin he absorbed before birth inside his body, Mason's DNA or, metaphorically, his spirit could still be inside Sebastien. Deaton explains that life is energy and energy can't simply disappear. He says while the**_ _ **Dread Doctors**_ _ **broke the rules of the supernatural, there are some rules that just won't break. He says Mason must exist, as a spark of energy or flicker or memory, inside Sebastien. Stiles remembers Mason saying, "That's not my name," just before he turned into the Beast. They link this to the old werewolf lore that calling it by its given name will return the werewolf to human form. Stiles figures Lydia is the one that would have to do it.**_

"Cause y voice can reach various levels of the soul?" she asked. "That and no one can escape the voice of a harbinger of death" Stiles shrugged making Lydia scowl.

 _ **Sebastien stops into the Sheriff's station looking for the Argents.**_ _ **Sheriff Stilinski**_ _ **overhears him talking to**_ _ **Deputy Clark**_ _ **and takes him into his office. The sheriff's phone is blowing up. He explains that Stiles likes to leave incredibly long and confusing messages. As he reads the last one, he realizes who Sebastien is. He puts the phone down on his desk and tries to calmly talk to his guest. Sebastien can hear the Sheriff's heartbeat and knows that he knows who Sebastien really is.**_

"Ah shit" Noah swore.

 _ **Sebastien says modern weapons won't kill him but the Sheriff says he's pretty sure his**_ _ **9mm Beretta**_ _ **will do more damage than an 18**_ _ **th**_ _ **century musket. Sebastien says the Sheriff has a choice, he can walk out with his hands clean or drenched in blood.**_

"Walk out clean. Walk out with clean hands" Claudia begged.

 _ **They stand and Deputy Clark realizes that the Sheriff has his sidearm drawn. She confronts Sebastien despite the Sheriff's warning. Sebastien's eyes glow bluish white, he bares fangs and attacks. Both the Sheriff and Clark open fire. The bullets give him pause but he continues to advance.**_

"Damnit" Hayden banged her fist on the arm of her chair in frustration.

 _ **Hayden enters the darkened Sheriff's Station. She sees Stilinski crawling across the floor toward his gun.**_ _ **Lydia Martin**_ _ **steps into the bullpen. Sebastien attacks, jabbing his claws into her neck as she screams. Her voice hurls him back several feet into the wall but the neck wound appears deep and blood seeps through her fingers as she clutches at her throat.**_

"There goes that plan" Lydia groans. "I think we are more worried about the fact that you might end up dead" Stiles said tensely holding her hand tightly. Lydia looked at the boy beside her but said nothing more.

 _ **Sebastien, thanks to Mason's memories, remembers Hayden. He attacks her.**_

"I'll be okay" Hayden said spotting the look Liam had on. Liam nodded stiffly, she would be okay. She has to be okay.

 _ **Sheriff Stilinski carries a still bleeding Lydia into**_ _ **Beacon Hills Memorial Hospital**_ _ **. The Desert Wolf calls for Malia to come downstairs. Braeden calls out that she shouldn't listen.**_

 _ **Corinne – I'm not going to stop Malia. I'm taking back what you stole from me.**_

 _ **Malia – I didn't steal anything.**_

 _ **Corinne – But you did and I don't care if you were a willing participant or not.**_ _ **Talia Hale**_ _ **spent nine months trying to convince me of the miracle of childbirth. You know what it really felt like? A parasite. Talia said it was a gift. A coyote passes down part of her power to her daughter. She called it beautiful. I call it theft.**_

Malia flinched at every word said. Peter looked from the screen to Malia before he got up and sat beside her. Malia looked the man with a snarl. "Look I know I'm not someone you would be proud to call dad but I did bring you into this world. Well technically your psycho mom did but I did put you in the oven. Anyways what I want to say is that, I am here for you and in the future. All you have to do is reach out and I promise not to be a psychopath around you" he said with a small smile and put a hand on her head and ruffled her hair gently. Malia said nothing and just enjoyed the little contact she was having, it has been a long time since she had contact like this. From a distance, Talia looked at the scene with hidden sadness. "I made a terrible mistake" she thought to herself.

 _ **Malia moves. The floor creaks. The Desert Wolf makes her move toward the stairs. She fires several shots at the door where Braeden has limited cover. Both women take bullets but Corinne makes it to the stairs. Malia and her mother are now back to back with just a thin wall between them. Sebastien forced**_ _ **Hayden**_ _ **to take him to Theo's lair. She finds Tracy's body and, using her hand, closes the dead girl's eyes. She tells Sebastien that she's done as he wanted and asks that he let her go. He notices the fresco on the wall. Hayden notices Tracy's claws and remembers the large syringe of**_ _ **Kanima**_ _ **venom. She picks it up. Sebastien wants to know about the "demon on the left" in the fresco. Hayden says it's a**_ _ **Hellhound**_ _ **and, using Mason's memories, Sebastien realizes its name is Parrish and says the Argents will try to put the pike in his hands. Hayden moves to stab Sebastien with the syringe of venom but he is too fast and stops her. He wonders aloud when young people became so confident and then stabs his claws into her gut.**_

Hayden winced, hands moving to her gut as if she felt a ghost pain. "You're okay" Liam said comfortingly and put an arm around her, "I won't let ti happen this time" he said with enough confidence to make Hayden calm down ever so slightly.

 _ **One of the Argent's sonic emitters begins to pulse nearby. Sebastien leaves Hayden bleeding on the floor and goes to investigate. Elsewhere in the tunnels, Deucalion says he recognizes the sound. Theo realizes it's the Argents. Deucalion says they're corralling the beast and says Theo will need to be back at full capacity. Theo says they should find out and opens an electrical breaker box. He grabs the wires and electricity flows through his body. He aims a bolt at Deucalion's cane and the big werewolf falls to the floor. Deucalion warns Theo that his willingness to stab anyone and everyone in the back might turn out to be his downfall. Theo says Deucalion can still have Scott's eyes, he'll bring them to him.**_

"Yeah not happening" Allison grumbled. The Theo in the room had already realized the flaw in the plan and was shocked that future him had not. Was power that mind numbing that he wouldn't be able to see a flaw as big as that?

 _ **Stiles visits Lydia in the hospital. He takes her hand. She can barely speak but asks if they found a solution. Stiles says she is the solution. Parrish and Chris Argent are in the tunnels. Parrish gets a message on his phone that Lydia's been hurt badly. Chris says that doesn't change anything. He says if they don't stop Sebastien, Lydia will die. Chris says he's not just coming for the pike. He's coming for anything and anyone that stands in his way and right now that's everybody. Chris puts his shotgun down. Parrish is confused. Chris explains that there wasn't a man with a gun facing the beast in that painting. It was Parrish and Chris says it was put there as a reminder that the beast isn't unstoppable. Parrish flames up.**_

"I hope I can get him" Parrish said with a drop of sweat going down his face. "We all hope you do" Chris said tensely.

 _ **At the hospital, Scott updates Liam on Lydia's condition explaining that she can't really talk. Believing that Lydia was there last hope, Liam says there's nothing they can do now to save Mason.**_

Mason slumps in his chair and sighs.

 _ **Scott receives Kira's voicemail explaining that she's leaving but will be back to help. She reminds him that, together, they can save Mason. Scott says he has an idea.**_

Mason looked up at the screen suddenly.

 _ **Melissa McCall**_ _ **points out that she could lose her job for helping but injects Lydia's throat with cortisone. Scott explains that the synthetic hormone will reduce the inflammation in her throat and allow her limited use of her voice. Stiles, seeing Lydia's wound, says he might need to leave but Melissa tells him he's not going anywhere and orders him to hold Lydia's hand. Stiles says he still might faint but it is Liam who passes out and hits the floor.**_

The room burst out into little laughter, thankful at the light moment.

 _ **As they are exiting the hospital with Lydia, Scott gives Stiles something wrapped in brown paper telling him that he's been working on it for a while and that Malia needs it. He says it was "Plan A." Stiles points out that "Plan A" never works. Scott says this one will. Hayden stumbles into**_ _ **Beacon Hills Animal Clinic**_ _ **. She asks for Deaton's help saying she is pretty hurt. Parrish is fighting the beast. Chris is firing all his weapons at it. Gerard pulls him clear of the fray. Chris points out that they're not slowing down but Gerard says they both will. Braeden is bleeding from her wounds. Malia bares fangs and prepares to strike. Corinne smiles. Stiles walks in. The Desert Wolf points her gun at Stiles. Malia jumps from her hiding place and throws him to the ground. She manages to disarm her mother and the pair grapple falling into the glass coffee table.**_

"My coffee table" Melissa sighs.

 _ **Entering the tunnels, Liam hears the sound of arcing electricity. He then notices that there's water on the floor. He throws Lydia to a dry area just before electricity shoots through the water and knocks both Liam and Scott to the ground. Theo grabs Lydia and throws her toward an opening in the floor. She falls but Scott manages to catch her. Theo uses his Kanima venom to paralyze Scott. He loses his grip on Lydia and she falls.**_

"I really want to punch you right across your face right now" Stiles growled. Theo said nothing, watching through wide eyes.

 _ **As she falls, Lydia screams. Parrish hears her and loses concentration. The Beast punches him and escapes. Stiles recovers from his fall and takes a run at the Desert Wolf. She easily throws him into the glass coffee table. A shard of glass protrudes from his chest.**_

"Ow" Stiles winced, rubbing his chest.

 _ **Theo hears the beast in the tunnels and tells Scott that it's the sound of real power. Sebastien comes around the corner and Theo stabs him in the gut in an attempt to take his power. It doesn't work. Sebastien becomes the Beast and knocks Theo to the floor. He walks away.**_

Several people snorted at that while Theo just grumbled.

 _ **Deucalion joins Theo in the tunnel. Theo realizes that Deucalion was lying to him and was working with Scott the whole time. Deucalion reveals that he's not really blind. He also reveals that he lied about**_ _ **Belasko**_ _ **'s garuda talons. Theo would have been able to siphon off the Beasts power if he'd had them. Deucalion breaks Theo's neck.**_

"That was nice" Allison sighed and relaxed against Scott. "I don't think watching someone nice should be nice" Scott said poking her side. She slaps his hand away, "well it is when the dead party is an asshole who keeps ruining everything" Allison muttered.

 _ **Lydia stumbles in the dark until she finds a door. It's locked. Theo complains that Deucalion broke his neck. Deucalion wishes him good luck with that. He then explains that there is an access grate that leads to a sublevel. He thinks Lydia may be there. He also says they can still save Mason. Gerard shoots Deucalion. Gerard asks Scott how long they've been planning this double cross. Chris says about as long as Scott and he have been planning to double cross Gerard. He says he knew bringing Gerard back would be less about saving lives and more about immortalizing his own. Father and son level their guns at each other. Chris tosses the cane/sword to Scott and tells him to go. As he and Liam round the corner of the tunnel they hear a shot.**_

"I hope you shot him in the head" Lydia muttered. "I doubt I did" Chris sighed.

 _ **The Desert Wolf shoots Malia in the shoulder and the back. Corinne says it's not the full moon but close enough. She shoots her daughter again. Stiles tosses a jar to Malia, inside are the garuda talons. They glow blue. As the Desert Wolf moves in to kill Malia, the empty glass jar shatters on the floor. Saying she wants her family back, Malia stabs her mother with the talons and the blue light slowly drains from Corinne's eyes as Malia's eyes brighten. Braeden hits Corinne in the head and knocks her out.**_

"Yes!" Stiles jumped up and whooped but then got pulled back down by Lydia.

 _ **Stiles requests that someone please remove the gigantic piece of glass from his chest.**_

"Yes please" Claudia said with a small smile.

 _ **Liam says he should be the one to use the cane/sword on Mason. Scott says they're not killing Liam's best friend. Sebastien approaches and says the cane belongs to him. He calls it a "family heirloom" and politely asks for it back. Scott says they'll give it to him if he returns Mason to them. Sebastien explains that Mason is gone. Lydia struggles with the locked door. Kira's sword pierces the wood. Lydia stands back as**_ _ **Kira**_ _ **slices open the door. She apologizes for being late.**_

"I have never been more happy to see her" Allison sighed.

 _ **The cane/sword lands on the floor as the Beast pummels Scott and Liam. They both move back for another attack but the Beast slams his fists into the floor creating a shockwave that throws both werewolves into the wall of the tunnel. Sebastien picks Scott up by the neck. He is puzzled as to why they both fight without a killer instinct. He says he'll show Scott how to go for the throat. Liam picks up the cane and draws out the sword. Scott tells him to back off, that they can still save Mason. Liam makes a run at Sebastien with the sword but he is easily repelled and thrown to the floor. Sebastien tightens his grip on Scott and his claws sink into the back of his neck. He begins to see Scott's memories of**_ _ **Allison**_ _ **and mistakes her for his sister Marie-Jeanne. This causes him to hesitate and Scott is able to get free.**_

"You saved me again" Scott said with a chuckle and hugged her close. "Good to know even dead me can do some good" Allison muttered with a smile.

 _ **Lydia and Kira arrive. Lydia says "Mason" but nothing happens. Kira suggests she try it louder. Sebastien stalks toward them transforming as he goes. She screams Mason's name. Sound waves strike the beast and the giant form turns to smoke. Mason walks from it and falls toward the ground.**_ _ **Corey**_ _ **becomes visible against the wall and steps forward to catch Mason.**_

"Are you always just there?" Liam looked at Corey who just shrugged.

 _ **The now mostly formless smoke beast careens down the tunnel. Parrish steps out and "catches" it. He yells for Scott. Scott throws the cane/sword into the smoky beast and it dissipates.**_

"We did it!" Liam cheers joined in by the rest of the people in the room. Even Theo was cheering.

 _ **Theo walks up with lightening flaring around his body.**_

And now the room groaned in unison while Theo buried his face in his hands.

 _ **He shoots a bolt toward Scott but Kira steps in front and catches the bolt with her sword. She says the**_ _ **Skin walkers**_ _ **have a message for Theo. She stabs her sword into the concrete and says Theo's sister wants to see him. The floor cracks open and Theo's sister crawls up from the hole. She grabs Theo and drags him screaming into the hole which seals up behind them.**_

"That was so creepy" Theo muttered under his breath while the rest just looked shocked.

 _ **Deaton isn't sure Hayden will heal due to her Chimera status. Scott offers to take her to the hospital but she says she already died there once. Liam says it's her choice. She agrees and Scott's eyes light red and he bares his fangs.**_

"Your second beta. I am so proud" Peter wiped an imaginary tear before wincing at the punch thrown into his gut by his daughter who growled lightly.

 _ **Later in the woods, Hayden finds Liam. Both their eyes glow yellow. They embrace and kiss.**_

"Awww" Lydia and Allison coo making Liam and Hayden blush bright red.

 _ **Sheriff Stilinski tells Stiles that he's got to feel pretty good after he saved his friends lives and half the population of**_ _ **Beacon Hills**_ _ **. Stiles says it did for a while. His dad asks if it's something he wants to feel again. Stiles says "yeah, I think so" and the Sheriff welcomes him to his "future career in law enforcement."**_

"Guess now you'll be listening in on my conversations and I wouldn't be minding much" Noah said with pride while Stiles just grinned. Claudia looked between her two boys and wiped an actual tear from her eyes.

 _ **Lydia and Malia arrive at school and smile at all their fellow students getting off the bus and back to their lives. They walk arm in arm into the school.**_

"Aww someone made a best friend" Peter chuckled then doubled over from the punch he received from a growling teen.

 _ **Scott and Kira are back at Shiprock in New Mexico. She explains that she promised the Skin walkers that she would return and she's not sure how long it will take. She gives him her obsidian "tail" and tells him to keep it for her. They kiss again before she walks away. She joins the Skin walkers and they disappear in a whirlwind of dust. Lydia says Kira will be back because she still has to graduate. Stiles says he started the year stressed out about everyone not ending up in the same place after they graduate. He says he doesn't think it matters. He says no matter where they are they'll find each other. He then explains how Scott's memory of Allison saved him from Sebastien.**_

"Words of wisdom from Stiles" Scott said with a smirk while Stiles rolled his eyes with a playful smile.

 _ **In the Library, Scott makes his way to the second floor and the signed bookshelves. He sees his initials and Allison's and smiles. He looks down and sees Stiles and Lydia enter the library. He walks down and joins them.**_

Allison and Scott smile as they leaned against each other.

 _ **In the Dread Doctor's lair, the glass tube that had held the Nazi Werewolf is now empty. The glass is broken, the fluid drained and wet footprints lead away from it.**_

"Can we get a break? Like once? I mean is that too much to ask" Stiles groaned in frustration.


	92. 6-1

Just as the words poured out of a groaning Stiles, Skylark appeared in a flash of bright white light. _"Well wasn't that a fun time"_ he said with a chuckle and was on the receiving end of many glares. He waved them all away, _"This is the final year"_ this made everyone sit up straight. _"No one is leaving for this one. And Theo, as much as I hate you and want you gone, you do play a major role in the future and you seeing it yourself could change you as a person…er coyote. And this final year was by far in my opinion your most dangerous one yet. Anyways enjoy"_ and with that he disappeared again and the screen sizzled to life.

 _ **A flat tire leaves**_ _ **Liam Dunbar**_ _ **and**_ _ **Hayden**_ _ **stranded on a lonely road.**_

"It's always a lonely road" Laura mumbled.

 _ **As the breeze rustles the trees and falling leaves sweep across the ground, Liam looks up as if he senses something but shakes it off. Hayden makes fun of his used SUV, but when he says they don't have a jack to lift the vehicle to change the tire, she lifts it herself. Liam is also without a spare so they can't fix the tire.**_

"Always check these things before you go on a long drive" Stiles said wisely. "Listen to him. He speaks from experience" Scott added making Stiles gape, losing that wise man aura around him.

 _ **They laugh about how funny/bad their dating life is, briefly mentioning "the double date," "New Year's" "Christmas" with Liam's parents, and "that time your sister almost …" Liam suggests getting stranded in the middle of nowhere could be their "best date yet." They kiss. They notice**_ _ **Aurora Borealis fills the sky above them.**_ __

"That's odd. Beautiful but odd" Lydia mumbled.

 _ **A car is slowly driving toward them. Thinking the driver of the car might have a spare tire, the couple tries to flag them down. The car rolls slowly past them and comes to rest next to a fence. They investigate and find the windshield reduced to a jagged hole. The passenger side door is missing. Inside they find a boy hiding in the backseat. He shouts, "Don't let them take me. Don't let them take me too."**_

"That doesn't sound good" Mason mumbled in worry. "Guess we already have our next case" Scott sighed.

 _ **Sheriff Stilinski**_ _ **inspects claw marks in the hood of a delivery van. A paramedic straps a cast onto**_ _ **Stiles Stilinski**_ _ **'s arm. Stiles explains that he and Scott were trying to persuade the driver of the van to pull over. Scott attempted this by going full red-eyed**_ _ **Alpha Werewolf**_ _ **on the hood of the speeding vehicle. While they stopped the van, the driver got away. The boys thought the criminal mastermind stole something valuable, but the van carries only helium tanks.**_

"Nice job you two" Peter clapped slowly and everyone tried not to laugh out. Not even Malia punched him this time.

 _ **As Scott drives Stiles' Jeep later, he muses that not finding a huge criminal problem might be a good thing. He thinks it means**_ _ **Beacon Hills**_ _ **can get along without them which clears the way for them to move away to attend college. Stiles disagrees saying the town would burn to the ground without them. Scott repeats that the town doesn't need them but at that moment Stiles' phone rings. It's his father, "They need us!" he shouts.**_

"Even fate says the town needs us" Stiles chuckled madly earning a slap on the head from Lydia.

 _ **Sheriff Stilinski has the boy from the car, Alex, in the office at the Sheriff's Station. He explains that, while the boy can't remember what happened to his parents, they have "an unusual method" that will hurt but might help him remember. Scott and Stiles arrive, and Scott plunges his claws into the back of Alex's neck.**_

"That? Really?" Scott said exasperated. "Well if Noah suggested it, I think you mastered it quite nicely" Melissa said with a chuckle.

 _ **Scott sees Alex and his parents riding in their car. Alex's mom is worried that the R-rated movie they just saw was too scary for her son. He says he wasn't scared. Alex's father says he was terrified. Suddenly there's a man on horseback blocking the road in front of them.**_

Peter blinked and his head snapped towards Talia who was looking wide eyed at the screen.

 _ **He dismounts, pulls out his pistol and walks toward the vehicle. The rider pulls the trigger and a barely visible wave of energy shoots from the gun and blows out the windshield. The rider jumps on the hood and pulls Alex's father through the windshield. Suddenly the rider is standing next to the passenger side of the car, rips off the door and grabs Alex's mother. She grabs the gear shift as she is ripped from the car, shifting the vehicle into gear before the rider pulls her away.**_

"Okay what the hell was that" Stiles asked. Nobody answered. Most didn't know it while Chris, Talia and Peter were just too shocked to answer.

 _ **Scott breaks the connection. He explains what he saw, a man on a horse with a gun. The sheriff believes that it is a non-supernatural crime, but Scott says he got a feeling. Alex speaks up and says "They're coming back. They're coming for me."**_ _ **Lydia Martin**_ _ **examines the broken windshield. Alex's car is now in the Sheriff's Station impound lot. She gingerly touches the glass then moves around and sits in the driver's seat. She looks up toward the rearview mirror and sighs. Thinking she's sensed something, Stiles eagerly jumps up in the backseat. Lydia examines herself for a second and says her eye shadow is the perfect shade for her.**_

"Seriously?" Stiles rolled his eyes. "What? It is" Lydia huffed.

 _ **Stiles asks her to stay on topic. She says she's not sensing anything with her**_ _ **Banshee**_ _ **abilities. A coyote leaps over a stack of tires and pads into the lot. It begins to transform, and soon a naked**_ _ **Malia Tate**_ _ **stands on the concrete. Her eyes glow blue. Lydia hands her some clothes saying she doesn't believe Alex's parents are dead. Malia disagrees and says they were likely torn apart. She doesn't understand why the lack of blood. Lydia says Alex's parents can't be dead because she'd be able to sense if they were. As she gets dressed, Malia says, if they were alive, she would smell it. Scott agrees, there's no lingering scent.**_

"That is odd" Laura muttered and then looked at her terrified mother.

 _ **Scott says he doesn't know what happened. Stiles is surprised. He says he timed Scott; he was in Alex's head for four minutes. Scott waves off the discrepancy saying**_ _ **Werewolf**_ _ **connections aren't an exact science and that Alex is a kid and maybe was too freaked out to remember. Malia doesn't understand why they care. Stiles explains that if it's just a robbery,**_ _ **Scott's Pack**_ _ **can't help them and if it's something supernatural, the Sheriff can't help them. Lydia points out that Stiles seems to want it to be supernatural. Stiles says it's been three months since anything supernatural has occurred in Beacon Hills. Lydia says despite the mundanity of their lives of late, Stiles still drags her out of bed once a week like "some sort of supernatural metal detector."**_

A round of snorts were heard around the room.

 _ **Stiles says it's way more often than that. He believes recent events can't possibly be a series of impossible coincidences. Lydia says it wouldn't be so bad if it were a coincidence. The women leave. Stiles returns to examining the car. He notices something odd about the way the windshield is broken but can't figure out why it's unusual. Scott doesn't see it. He says it's like all the other bullet-damaged windshields around the impound lot but, as they look at those other cars, they notice each has a spider web pattern of cracks around the impact point. Alex's car does not. The windshield is a jagged, gaping hole.**_ _ **Sydney**_ _ **is trying to photograph Malia for the**_ _ **Beacon Hills High School**_ _ **yearbook, but Stiles keeps interrupting and ending up in the shot.**_

"Okay dude just calm down" Scott said with a chuckle. "Tell that to future me, not now me" Stiles said earning more snorts.

 _ **A line of bored and disgruntled students is waiting for their turn. As Malia gives up she says Stiles ruined her photo. She says he's not signed up for his turn in front of the camera. Stiles says he did, but as he takes the appointment sheet from his pocket, it's blank. Stiles is confused by this. Scott suggests he's "sublimating the stress of graduating by avoiding key milestones." Lydia looks confused by this; Scott explains that he's working on a paper for his phycology class.**_

"My head hurts" Liam rubbed his head. "Mine too" Mason rubs his forehead. Peter looked from the screen to Talia and an understanding passed between them.

 _ **Stiles explains that the deputy searched Alex's car and found no slug and no exit hole meaning there was no bullet. He says the home address Alex gave the authorities is an abandoned house. Stiles wants to leave school immediately to investigate, but the others bow out. Malia wants to retake her photos. Lydia is just not interested, and Scott explains that he missed 38 classes last semester and would have been removed from school had it not been for the intervention of**_ _ **Natalie Martin**_ _ **. Scott offers to go after school, but Stiles says he'll just take Liam. Looking around, he spots Liam and Hayden kissing on a nearby bench.**_

"Get a room you two" Stiles groaned while the teens in question blushed.

 _ **Sydney approaches and asks to take a candid shot of the group. Stiles protest but they pull him into the shot. He then pulls out a shard of glass from the car windshield and asks Scott to explain why it's turned blue. As Scott turns the glass in his hand, it reflects blue in the sunlight. Physics Teacher**_ _ **Garrett Douglas**_ _ **explains the**_ _ **"Schrödinger's cat"**_ _ **thought experiment" by way of an illustration of a cat, elaborately drawn on the blackboard with colored chalk. The young women in the class pay rapt attention to the attractive teacher's every move.**_

Mason rolled his eyes.

 _ **He calls on Hayden to explain what the thought experiment cat teaches about physics. She explains that it illustrates the concept of quantum**_ _ **superposition**_ _ **. Light is both a particle and a wave until it is observed. Just as the cat is both alive and dead until someone opens the box. Douglas says the question for today's lab is, does observing something changes its behavior or alter its outcome? The class breaks into groups of four.**_ _ **Mason**_ _ **notices that his phone won't geo-locate, meaning the compass isn't pointing toward true north anymore. Mason says Mr. Douglas has a physical compass they could check. Corey goes invisible and steals the compass. It too is pointing away from true north. They decide to follow the compass to see where it leads.**_

"That never happened in the school before" Stiles mumbled to himself.

 _ **Scott seeks out Advance Placement Biology Teacher,**_ _ **Mrs. Finch**_ _ **, to ask about the tinted windshield glass shard. She says the chemicals in a muzzle flash from a gun could include copper, barium, cesium, chemicals that can burn blue and green. She seems skeptical that a gun could have changed the shard. The conversation leads Scott to decide to cut class to investigate with Stiles.**_

"Next time you even try that you're grounded. Both of you" Melissa said with a glare and both boys shrank in their seats.

 _ **Just as the boys exit the school, they're caught and brought back by Mrs. Martin who berates Scott for trying to cut class again. She says she had to beg the superintendent to let him stay in school after his absences last semester. The boys plead with her, but she says they can protect Beacon Hills after 3:30 when school lets out.**_

"Exactly" Claudia huffs.

 _ **Just before 3:00, Scott Styles and Lydia are watching a video on**_ _ **the Normandy landings**_ _ **in World History class. The video includes the sound of crashing waves but for Lydia the sound shifts subtly to that of a rain storm and a woman singing The Door's song**_ _ **"Riders on the Storm."**_ _ **The Sheriff returns to his office to find Alex missing. He orders his deputies, including**_ _ **Deputy Clark**_ _ **to search the station for the boy. They find him in the holding cell. The boy begs them to lock him in. The sheriff agrees.**_

"Very odd for a kid to want to be locked up" Allison mumbled. "Guess those cowboys really freaked him out" Hayden said.

 _ **Back at school, the bell rings at 3:30 and Stiles and Scott bolt from their seats. The rest of the class empties but Lydia, still hearing something the others don't, remains. She notices the classroom is emptying and rises to leave. As she passes the TV, which moments before was showing the Allied forces landing in France, it shows only static. She hears the song again, clearer now. Suddenly, a lightning bolt strikes her, and she is flung backward to the floor. She is immediately standing at her desk, unharmed but she can still hear the thunder.**_

"Your Banshee visions are as weird as they come Stiles shuddered, holding her hand. Lydia peeked at the hand but said nothing.

 _ **Stiles and Scott arrive at the address Alex gave for his home. The house is abandoned. Scott and Stiles check through several empty rooms before finding one closed door upstairs. Stiles opens it and finds Alex's fully furnished bedroom. Unlike the rest of the house, it is clean and looks "normal." Stiles says the police didn't find the room because they didn't have the warrant to come inside. Scott hears a noise downstairs and goes to investigate. Stiles notices that pictures of Alex seem to have people missing. The boy has his arm around the empty air in one image. Another is in a frame that says "#1 Dad" but only shows Alex and space beside him.**_

"That's kinda creepy" Mason muttered.

 _ **Stiles hears the wind and the sheets on the bed billow as if from a breeze. Downstairs, Scott finds a dusty dining room table with two place settings. He looks away for a moment, and when he looks back, the place settings are gone.**_

""Guys get out of the ghost house. Like right now" Liam muttered.

 _ **Stiles looks under the bed. He sees hooves and hears a horse but, when he looks up, he's in the room alone. Scott runs into Liam and Mason. They explain the compass led them to the house. The compass needle spins wildly in Mason's hand. Stiles decides to flee the room upstairs. He slams the door shut and stands gasping in the hallway. The wind begins to push leaves and debris down the hall toward him. He looks up and sees a dark figure in a cowboy hat and long coat standing at the end of the hall.**_

"Oh no" Talia said under her breath. Laura looked at her mother with a raised eyebrow, she never saw her mother this freaked out before.

 _ **The rider takes aim and fires several times but misses Stiles. The burst of energy from the gun is more visible in the darkened hall and holes appear in the door behind him. The compass shatters and Scott hears a noise from upstairs. When Stiles looks up the rider and the holes in the doorway are gone. Scott rushes to his side. Stiles explains that a rider like Scott described from Alex's memory attacked him. He figures out that Alex's parents were "made to disappear" from the photos and other aspects of their lives. The boys open the door to Alex's room and find it just as empty as the rest of the house.**_

"How is that even possible!?" Stiles asked, slightly freaked out. No one answered him.

 _ **Stiles is flipping through a book,**_ _ **Mass Disappearances: Unexplained Mysteries**_ _ **by A. L. Harvey. There are true accounts of the ghost ship**_ _ **Mary Celeste,**_ _ **missing planes in the**_ _ **Bermuda Triangle,**_ _ **and the Roanoke settlement. The urban myth about**_ _ **a missing Inuit village on Lake Anjikuni,**_ _ **and one story that appears to be wholly made up about several infants disappearing from a Chinese hospital. Stiles feels an overwhelming sense of urgency and impending doom. Lydia says he doesn't have to solve it right now. He says he must figure out what's going on immediately for the sake of Alex. Lydia begins to hear The Doors song again. She repeats the lyric "Give this man a ride; sweet family will die. Killer on the road." Stiles recognizes the song as "Riders on the Storm." Lydia puts it all together. She realizes that the Ghost Riders are part of the**_ _ **Wild Hunt**_ _ **, "they come by storm, riding horses, and they take people." Stiles says Lydia is so smart he could kiss her. She says, "Do not kiss me." He kisses her on the cheek. She seems confused but not displeased by his affection.**_

Allison smiled knowingly while Scott just watched obliviously.

 _ **Mason catches up to Hayden and Liam at school. He's glued Mr. Garret's broken compass back together and believes they can return it without the teacher realizing. Hayden is skeptical, but Liam says they'll put it back and then go help Scott. Hayden says they could just let Scott handle it since he's the Alpha. Liam says he won't be for long. Hayden wonders who would take Scott's place, and it's clear that Liam thinks he could.**_

"Ambitious" Theo smirked. "I think he can do it" Scott said throwing a smile at Liam who grinned back.

 _ **Hayden worries about what they're going to do when Scott graduates because there will be no one there to figure things out. Again, Liam believes he could step up and do it but doesn't seem convinced by his own words. Mason reinforces that Liam could be the Alpha. Hayden is also unconvinced. The two werewolves smell blood. They begin searching the school for the source. Scott exits the Lacrosse field and runs into Stiles who fills him in on the Wild Hunt and the**_ _ **Ghost Riders**_ _ **. Stiles spots Mateo wearing his lacrosse jersey. The boy says the coach gave it to him during practice. Stiles was apparently unaware that he missed practice.**_

"Hmmm" Peter hummed.

 _ **Scott brings his friend back around to the topic of the Ghost Hunters. Stiles explains that they took Alex's parents because that's what they do. He says they "run around collecting souls and once they take you, you're gone." It's not just you, they also take everything about you, the way they took Alex's room. The boys figure out Alex is next. Malia arrives at school and Lydia explains that something bad is about to happen. Liam and Hayden can't find the source of the blood smell because it's coming from everywhere. Mason wonders if it's coming through the ventilation system. As Alex sits in the holding cell, leaves begin to blow across the floor. Liam, Hayden, and Mason make their way into the Boiler Room. A shadowy figure watches them from the walkway above. Tucked inside an industrial air conditioning unit, they find a man's body. His head is caved in. It is the driver from the helium truck Scott and Stiles stopped.**_

"Poor man" Hayden murmured.

 _ **The wind in the holding cell is now a gale. The ceiling beings to crack and the bars shake. Suddenly the pieces of crumbling roof swirl upward and fly away. Stiles and Scott arrive at the now empty and fully intact holding cell. Alex is not there, and Deputy Clark doesn't remember him at all. She says no one was ever in lockup today. Stiles checks the logs; they're blank. Scott supposes that the riders will come for everyone who was on the road the night Alex's parents disappeared and race back to the school to find Liam and Hayden at the school.**_

"They aren't the target" Chris muttered and Allison looked at him, having caught his words.

 _ **Before they part, Stiles says he needs to tell Scott something but never finishes the thought. Scott says he can just tell him later. Stiles runs down the hallway and directly into Mrs. Martin. She doesn't recognize him.**_

Noah's eyes widened as did Claudia's and Scott's and everyone in the room. Stiles was next. Stiles sat up straight and watched the screen intently.

 _ **Malia questions Lydia about when she first got her premonition. It was when she was with Stiles, and they figured out they were facing the Ghost Riders. Malia reads from an entry on the Wild Hunt, "Those who see the Wild Hunt beware, for you are already lost." Stiles finds Mason, Liam, and Hayden. They don't recognize him. Stiles begins to flash on all the things that hinted at his disappearance, the blank yearbook picture form, and the kid wearing his lacrosse jersey. He spots his father and rushes to him. The Sheriff calls him "son" and Stiles believes this means he recognizes him. He does not. Stiles is a stranger to his own father.**_

Noah groaned and buried his face in his hands.

 _ **Stiles calls Scott. His best friend doesn't remember him either.**_

Scott sat silent, too shocked to even utter a word.

 _ **Lydia remembers that Stiles saw the riders and realizes that they're coming for him. Malia doesn't know who she's talking about as she's forgotten Stiles as well.**_

Malia hisses under her breath.

 _ **Stiles runs out of the school and into Lydia. She remembers him.**_

Lydia held Stiles' hand in her tightly.

 _ **The Ghost Riders arrive. Lydia cannot see them. As they run from the three men on horses, Stiles tells Lydia not to try to look at them or scream because they'll take her too. The couple takes refuge in Stile's jeep. Stiles thinks about driving away but decides against it. He says they're going to take him anyway and begs Lydia to find some way to remember him. She says she will. Stiles reminds her how he had a crush on her all through high school and how she saved his life.**_

Lydia smiled slightly, clutching his hand tighter, trying not to break into tears.

 _ **She says he saved her life too. They hold hands. Stiles says he loves her and the Ghost Riders take him away.**_

Lydia closes her eyes as a lone tear rolls down her cheek while Claudia broke into tears, hugging her son close to her. Stiles just sat silently in his mother's embrace.

 _ **The next day at school, Lydia looks confused. Malia and Scott sense something is wrong with her. Lydia says she feels like she was supposed to do something but can't remember what.**_

"You will" Stiles said in a shaky voice. "I know you will" he whispered.


	93. 6-2

"Stiles I…." Noah began but couldn't say anything much, chocking on his words. "Dad" Stiles raised his hand with a sigh, "I'll be okay. You know I have ways to get out of trouble" he said with a weak grin. "But this isn't your normal trouble" Hayden muttered, trying not to choke on her words. "Reason whys he won't be alone in trying to get himself out" Lydia said firmly and shared a look with Scott who nodded firmly, "we'll find a way" he said confidently. "You guys don't even remember him" Theo muttered. "I said we will find a way" Scott said firmly, leaving no other room for arguments and making the Stilinski family relax ever so slightly. Stiles for his part knew that if Scott set his mind on something, he would get it done any way possible. And don't let him start of the strawberry blonde beside him.

The group calmed down, or as calm as they could have been before they resumed.

 _ **Dozens of**_ _ **Ghost Riders**_ _ **gallop across the lacrosse field at**_ _ **Beacon Hills High School**_ _ **as Scott and Liam practice. The boys don't see the riders but Scott senses something he can't quite place.**_

"That is a weird and irritating feeling" Laura mumbled. She had her fair share of weird feelings.

 _ **He says**_ _ **Liam**_ _ **needs to work on his back shots because "they suck." Liam doesn't understand and proceeds to make several perfectly executed back shots into the goal. Scott says he must have been thinking of someone else.**_

"Probably the stick of a man there" Peter said pointing at Stiles who didn't seem to register what Peter had said. But Malia did and reacted with an elbow to the gut.

 _ **The lights on the field begin to go out as Liam says someone other than him should be captain of the lacrosse team once Scott steps down. Scott says he's sure Liam will make it. With all the lights out, Liam believes they'll have to leave but Scott says they can continue. He flashes his alpha-red eyes while Liam's flash golden-yellow and they continue practicing.**_

"Perks of night vision" Derek said with a content sigh.

 _ **Inside the physics classroom,**_ _ **Mason**_ _ **, Corey, and a few other students are working on an experiment for extra credit. They mix iron filings into a putty mixture to create a magnetic putty or slime. Mason admits that he doesn't need the extra credit because he has a 4.9 GPA.**_

"Sometimes, Mason feels like the love child of Stiles and Lydia. Stiles' quick thinking deductions and Lydia's book smart" Allison whispered to Scott who snorted.

 _ **He says it is one of his favorite labs but it's clear he's there to help with Corey whose GPA is a 2.7. Mason points out that Corey works two jobs and that dying didn't help with his grade point average. Mason worries that Corey is mad because he's trying to help. Corey says he's furious and then kisses him.**_

"Maybe I should get you furious more often" Mason said with a smirk that Corey returned. "Eugh get a room" Liam groaned and punched Mason on the shoulder making him wince and protest.

 _ **With the putty done, Mason places a magnet nearby and it flies across the counter and into the gelatinous mass. Then other metal objects, much further away, begin to slide toward the putty suggesting the magnetic field is much stronger than intended.**_ _ **Coach Finstock**_ _ **bursts into the room and demands to know what the students are doing there at 9 o'clock at night. They try to explain about the extra credit but he ushers them out anyway saying they should be out meeting girls. They explain that they're gay and he says, "Even better! Go gays!" He then throws them out.**_

"Sometimes I wonder whether Bobby is gay or just that eager" Melissa shakes her head.

 _ **Mason forgot his phone in the classroom. He returns inside to get it. After a few moments, Corey follows. The doors at the end of the hall burst open and dry leaves blow across the floor. The clock in the hall ticks backward, then forward, then stops. Panicked, Corey goes invisible. When he's camouflaged, he sees the world in an altered spectrum and can see one of the Ghost Riders walking down the hall. It is quickly joined by another and they seem to sense someone is there but apparently don't see Corey.**_

"You can see!?" Peter exclaimed standing up. "Yeah. I have eyes and I'm not blind" Corey rolled his eyes. "I mean. You can see the riders when they don't want to be seen. This is a very powerful ability" Peter said with a smirk and sat back down.

 _ **Mason finds his phone and a text from Corey sent at 9:06 PM, "They're here. Don't move." Mason exits the main building into a blustery gale of dried leaves. He crosses the path over to the Library entrance. A boy is hanging, apparently in mid-air, above the floor. As Mason crosses under the hanging boy, Corey grabs him and camouflages him. They can now both see the riders as they pull the boy into the air by whips wrapped around his neck. The riders pull and pull until the boy disappears in a cloud of smoke. They jump down and exit the library as the two invisible boys watch.**_

'Did they just kill him?" Allison asked in horror. "No erased him. What does not exist cannot be killed" Talia said.

 _ **On the lacrosse field, Liam suddenly senses Mason is in trouble. He and Scott race to the Library where Mason explains what happened. Liam is angry that Corey put Mason in danger but Mason says Corey was trying to protect him. The pair no longer remembers the boy the riders erased. Instead, they remember the Ghost Riders were there and then they jumped down and left. Malia and**_ _ **Nathan**_ _ **are having sex.**_

"Not what a father would want to see" Peter looked away with a groan while Malia smirked.

 _ **They settle in and try to get comfortable as Nathan attempts to spoon Malia. She's obviously uncomfortable until she flips over and makes him the little spoon in the arrangement. Nathan is very uncomfortable with the position. He's even more uncomfortable after he notices a gym bag with manacles and chains near Malia's bed. He asks about them but Malia shushes him and says, "It's nothing."**_

"Girl is just into weird kinks" Lydia said with a smirk.

 _ **Lydia is at home in her room apparently asleep when she hears**_ _ **Stiles**_ _ **' voice, lights begin to flash and the sound of a speeding train rocks her out of bed. The effects last for several seconds. She's gasping as her mother opens the door and says she heard Lydia screaming. Lydia says she heard the sound of a train. Her mother says it wasn't a train and they haven't had an earthquake in a while. She believes it was a nightmare. Lydia says she wasn't asleep.**_

"Stiles is probably reaching out from the other side" Theo shrugged. "You make me sound like a ghost" Stiles muttered.

 _ **Scott steps on a tack in his room. He notices a picture is missing from his wall. He finds it on the floor. It's the image of him, Malia, and Lydia at school. The next day at school, Lydia walks over to locker 1075 and waits. Liam is late for lacrosse practice. The coach is looking for a new captain since Scott decided to focus on "his grades and graduation." Scott wants Liam to be captain but he appears to be the only one. As the players try out for captain, Liam gets flipped and flattened. Coach calls him "Dumbar" instead of Dunbar. Liam calls him on it and is assigned equipment duty.**_

"Nice work Dumbar" Hayden snorted. "Shut up" Liam growled.

 _ **Corey is drawn back to the library. Mason follows. Mason says he's read all about the Wild Hunt. He says they come in on the storm and take souls but he can't figure out why they would be in a high school. Mason points out that they only saw them due to Corey's power and it may be a special ability they don't know about. Corey feels like the Ghost Riders were holding something. Mason wonders if they were holding someone. Liam brings the equipment into the locker room. Scott says he wasn't really trying to be captain. He points out that**_ _ **Devenford Prep**_ _ **started practice three weeks before Beacon Hills. Riverside High School started two weeks before. He says they're behind before they even start and the players BHHS has aren't that accomplished. Scott says with him graduating Liam should step up and lead. Liam says Coach doesn't want him. He doesn't know if the team wants him. Scott says it's not up to them. It's up to Liam. He has to want it because they're going to keep coming after him and knocking him down. Scott says Liam has to get back up because leaders don't run.**_

"Get ready for your Alpha 101 course" Laura said with a snort.

 _ **Coach is listening and begins to applaud. He says McCall's intensity is exactly what the team needs. Coach then turns to Liam and says he will crush "that little adorable baby face."**_

"He likes you" Stiles pointed out. "He is picking me out to verbally abuse" Liam pointed out. "Because he has taken an interest in you" Stiles smirked.

 _ **Malia is highlighting her textbook. She comes to the word "style" and stops. She takes out a different colored highlighter and highlights the single word. She then continues to highlight the rest in yellow.**_

"They haven't forgotten as well as the riders would have liked" Talia mused.

 _ **Lydia enters the class and sits. The desk next to hers is empty. She stares at it in confusion. Mrs. Flemming hands back tests. Malia scored a D-. Malia gets angry and grips the top of her desk and her claws extend. Lydia notices and tries to distract the teacher. Flemming tells Lydia that she won't "give extra credit for alternate equations based on your own theoretical findings." As the teacher moves on, Lydia whispers, "Claws, Malia!" Calmer now, Malia's claws retract. Scott walks the hall. He reaches the area of locker 1075 and stops. He's drawn to it and reaches out to touch the metal door.**_

"Wait that's my locker" Stiles suddenly said. "We know" Stiles and Lydia said in unison. "You forgot your own locker?" Lydia raised an eyebrow. Stiles shrugged.

 _ **In class, Lydia sees a dark-haired woman in a lab coat and stethoscope sitting in the previously empty desk. She questions what she's doing there. The doctor turns toward her and opens her mouth. The sound of a very loud train and flashing lights fill the room. Lydia covers her ears but the sound is soon gone. She's left gasping again. No one else in the room seems to notice anything unusual.**_

"I know I've said this before but your Banshee powers are freaking creepy" Stiles shuddered. Lydia just punched him on the shoulder and rolled his eyes.

 _ **Mason and Corey visit the school office in an attempt to see if any students are missing. They're stopped by**_ _ **Natalie Martin**_ _ **. They explain that it's "werewolf stuff" but she says the school is a dedicated safe space. She says she had to convince 23 students that what they saw in the library last semester was a large bear and that Scott's fangs were the result of "Acute Teenage Hallucination Syndrome."**_

The room erupted in snorts. "Really mom" Lydia shook her head with a smile.

 _ **Mason explains that they believe someone is missing and in danger. Mrs. Martin is unmoved but says no one has reported a student missing and all absentees are accounted for. She ushers them out of the office.**_

"If the riders took him then there won't be a report" Laura said in a bored tone.

 _ **Lydia is in the hallway. She sees the doctor from before walking near the other end of the hall. She starts running and bursts through the doors. She is suddenly back on the night Stiles disappeared. She can't see him but hears his voice and seems to feel him. She is pulled forward just as Stiles did on that night. She sees the riders too and plays out their attempt to escape them again. Lydia is about to step in front of a car but Malia pulls her back and asks what she was doing. "Trying to remember," she says. Corey and Mason follow**_ _ **Jordan Parrish**_ _ **through the Sheriff's Station. He's apparently told them repeatedly that there are no active missing person cases but still they persist. They then ask if his "**_ _ **Hellhound**_ _ **intuition" senses anything wrong in the supernatural world. He says he's a harbinger of death not of kidnapping and explains that he's working on a robbery/homicide case that doesn't seem to be connected to the supernatural. Mason questions the "straightforward" part of a man bludgeoned to death and stuffed in an air duct unit at the high school. Parrish says he already has Mason's statement on finding the body and sends them away.**_

"Don't you hate it when that happens" Stiles asked nostalgically. "Dude you're probably the only one this has happened to" Mason points out.

 _ **Scott investigates locker 1075, trying to see into the vents with his phone's flashlight. He's about to break the combination lock on the door when**_ _ **Garrett Douglas**_ _ **stops him. He questions Scott and tells him breaking into the locker is against the rules. Scott leaves to go to class. In the locker room, Mason tells Liam his theory about the Ghost Riders hanging somebody in the library. He says Corey has a hunch. Liam scoffs and asks if that's "a chameleon thing." Mason says Corey just wants to help but Liam points out that Corey wasn't there when they were fighting**_ _ **The Beast**_ _ **. He also questions why the chimera was loyal to**_ _ **Theo**_ _ **for so long. Mason points out that they all trusted Theo at one point but Liam counters that he'll trust Corey when Corey does something trustworthy. He then reveals that he can hear Corey's heartbeat in the room.**_

You have to stop that if you want to earn their trust" Theo said honestly, much to the shock of most.

 _ **Corey becomes visible next to the far wall. Corey brings up the fact that Liam forgave**_ _ **Hayden**_ _ **. Liam says that's because she almost died as she fought alongside them against the Beast while Corey only hid. Corey says he doesn't have claws and fangs and had no other choice. Mason agrees saying all Corey can do is disappear.**_

"Bad wording" Scott winced.

 _ **This seems to sting and Mason regrets saying it. Liam says Corey should just disappear and leaves the two of them there.**_

"Dude!" Mason punched Liam on the arm. "Hey! Its future me!" Liam protested.

 _ **Mason scolds Corey for hiding in the wall. Corey says he's not going to be friends with Mason's friends. This is apparently a conversation they've had before. Mason says it won't work. He needs Corey and the pack to be friends.**_ _ **Dr. Deaton**_ _ **examines the piece of glass Stiles pulled from the wrecked car. Scott remembers taking it from the impound lot but he can't remember why he was there or why he took it. He says there are holes in his memory. Deaton says dreams and waking dreams can allow the subconscious to help people remember. Scott wonders aloud if it's all connected, the Ghost Riders, Wild Hunt, and the holes in his memory.**_

"Very much so" Stiles nodded.

 _ **Deaton says the Wild Hunt is drawn to war and mayhem. He's never heard of it doing anything to anyone's memory. He then compares Scott's memory gaps to "**_ _ **phantom limb syndrome**_ _ **". He recounts how amputees sometimes will have pain or other sensation in a missing limb. He says the missing limb is so important that the brain acts as if it is still there. Scott concludes his subconscious is trying to tell him what's missing but he doesn't know how to figure out what its saying. Deaton suggests he go to sleep. Scott goes to bed at home but awakes in the**_ _ **Beacon Hills Preserve**_ _ **.**_

"The night you got bit" Allison said.

 _ **Malia wakes up on the floor in her room. She gets up and runs into the bag with the manacles and chains. Lydia enters the basement at school and finds Malia partially chained to the wall. Malia explains that she has a problem: she's growling at people, clawing her desk, and turning the floor of her bedroom into a coyote den. She says she remembers coming down to the basement before when she used to lose control of her**_ _ **Werecoyote**_ _ **side. She notes that this was before they took her to Lydia's lake house. Malia says she remembers being chained but that Scott and Lydia weren't there and she couldn't reach far enough to chain herself. They decide someone had to have been with her.**_

"Remember" Claudia pleaded.

 _ **Scott calls Lydia and Malia to come out to the woods. He explains how he woke up near the spot where he was bitten and turned into a werewolf. Lydia says she didn't know Scott then and Malia points out that she was still stuck in coyote form at the time. Scott remembers looking for a body that night but certain facts, like how he heard about the body, how he got five miles from his house without a car, and why Sheriff Stilinski suspected he was out there, don't make sense. He concludes he wasn't out there alone. Liam meets up with Corey outside the library. Corey says he was wrong. He thought the fact that they hated each other wouldn't matter but it does to Mason and Mason matters to them both. Corey suggests they work together so that Mason doesn't have to choose between them. They decide to team up to look for a trace of the Ghost Riders.**_

Mason smiled gently.

 _ **Scott figures out that he had a best friend who was out in the woods with him the night he was searching for the body. Malia says it doesn't sound crazy because she knows someone chained her up and helped her stay human. Lydia says she came to school expecting to meet someone but couldn't remember who. She says she was looking for that person all day, and whoever it is, she thinks she loved him.**_

Stiles blinked while Lydia tied to not meet his gaze. "You think it would happen sooner this time? The whole falling in love" Scott whispered to Allison who was against his side. "Well Lydia probably falls for the guy she comes to know in the future and how much he is willing to do for her. Now that she knows what Stiles does for her in the future and what kind of a guy he is, I think it's possible" Allison whispered back.

 _ **Scott figures they're all missing the same person. He retrieves the photo of the three of them and shows it to them. Lydia says the missing person was sitting right in the middle but there's no one in the picture now. Parrish walks**_ _ **Sheriff Stilinski**_ _ **through the details of the Robbery/Murder investigation. The driver of the cube truck was named Nick Mazara and has a record of petty theft and dealing drugs but nothing violent. He worked for a medical supply company and had access to hospital supplies like the stolen helium. Parrish explains that hospitals use helium for**_ _ **Heliox Therapy**_ _ **to help respiratory injuries caused by fires or explosions. He says someone's been raiding the supply of helium at**_ _ **Beacon Hills Hospital**_ _ **for months. The sheriff is impressed by Parrish's thoroughness. Parrish says the Sheriff's wife is waiting for him in his office.**_

"My…wife?" Noah narrowed his eyes.

 _ **Claudia Stilinski**_ _ **is there and she brought dinner for her husband.**_

"That's not mom" Stiles says instantly. "But it is her" Noah points out. "That is an illusion" Talia explains. "The riders probably put it in so that you would forget you ever had a son" she said. "But why her?" Noah asked but no one answered for him except for one person. "Probably because you felt like Mom would still be there if I wasn't born" he whispered out, words breaking at places. "Stiles I" Noah began but quieted down when Stiles gave him a small smile. "Well the riders think the case so" he said and looked away.

 _ **She sets out a quinoa and kale salad on the desk before him. He is not pleased. She explains that she wants to keep him healthy but she's only teasing. She has a bag of fast food burgers and fries for him. He asks her if she's happy. "Always," she replies. He pulls her into his lap and they kiss. Liam takes Corey's hand and they go invisible. They enter the library. Slotted in the railing above, Liam spots a card. Corey lets go of Liam and he can no longer see the card. Corey heads upstairs and retrieves it. Once he becomes visible again the card is visible too. Later, Mason joins them and says the blank library key card is like**_ _ **Schrödinger's cat**_ _ **, it wasn't there until it was observed. He goes on about**_ _ **superposition**_ _ **and how looking at something changes it's very existence.**_

"Fun how a cat applies to this" Mason snorted.

 _ **Corey and Liam changed reality. Liam decides to try the card in the computer card reader. The screen shows student Jake Sullivan. Mason suddenly remembers he was in the lab with them last night doing the extra credit lab. Liam says they have Spanish together but he forgot about him too. The card now shows a full photo identification for sophomore Jake Sullivan. Mason realizes that the Ghost Rider erased Jake. Liam admits Corey's hunch was right. Coach Finstock has two laptops open on his desk. It sounds like he's playing a martial arts video game. Liam enters and announces that he wants to sign up for team captain. Coach says it's too late and the end of the day was the deadline. Liam points out that he didn't say the end of the "school day" and snatches the signup sheet from him. Coach questions what changed his mind. Liam says he held a guy's hand. Finstock says, "I totally get it."**_

"Totally gay" Melissa chuckled.

 _ **Deaton hangs the shard of glass from the impound lot on a string in front of Lydia. He lights it from below. He says he hopes the darkness, silence, and focused light will allow Lydia to tap into whatever her subconscious has been trying to tell her. They plan to do this via**_ _ **automatic writing**_ _ **. As Lydia begins, Deaton warns Scott and Malia that what they're saying suggests that the Wild Hunt doesn't just take people, they erase people from reality. Lydia writes furiously. When they stop her, she's written the world "Mischief" over and over. Upon closer examination, they see the pattern of the words spell ou S. Lydia comes out of her trance and asks, "What the hell is a Stiles?"**_

"You relate mischief with me?" Stiles raised an eyebrow. Lydia shrugged, "I had to remember you somehow" she smirked.


	94. 6-3

_**Garrett Douglas**_ _ **explains the process of creating an electromagnet by adding a battery attached to a copper coil wrapped around a metal rod.**_

"I don't trust him" Stiles suddenly says. "And why is that?" Allison looked at him. "Well call it a gut feeling" Stiles shrugged. "I agree with Stiles. Something about him makes a chill go down my spine" Laura muttered.

 _ **He uses the magnet to make a metal ball spin in a bowl. Douglas suffers a coughing fit and flashes back to being trapped in a glass, liquid-filled tube in the**_ _ **Dread Doctors**_ _ **lair.**_

"Well we now know what makes that chill go down your spine" Derek pointed out. "Of all people the school had to employ a Nazi werewolf alpha" Corey groaned.

 _ **In class, he asks the students, including**_ _ **Mason**_ _ **,**_ _ **Corey**_ _ **, Liam, and Hayden, to imagine what adding infinite power, say from a lightning bolt, might mean for the magnet. Further flashbacks reveal Douglas' body was severely damaged from his time submerged in the liquid. He wills his flesh to repair itself and his eyes glow red, but he still has trouble breathing.**_

"It's kind of disgusting how he looked like in the tank" Lydia says. "Well he is from way back and the Dread Doctors probably kept him alive by not healing whatever injury he had sustained" Hayden said.

 _ **His coughing becomes so severe that he leaves the class and enters the storage room attached. There he inhales deeply from a mask connected to a tank marked Helium.**_

"Helium?" Scott rose an eyebrow. "Maybe he wants to do this funny helium voice" Stiles joked.

 _ **Cell phones start ringing in the girl's locker room.**_ _ **Nathan Pierce**_ _ **is having a "Start of the Season Lacrosse Party" and his mass text seems to hit all the phones at once. Gwen is freaking out by the lockers. She claims someone has removed all her sister Phoebe's stuff and the school administration is claiming she never existed. Hayden doesn't remember her either despite the fact that Gwen says she was on the team for two years.**_

"Probably got taken" Melissa said with a sad sigh. "Poor girl" Claudia muttered, holding her son's hand.

 _ **Scott and Lydia look up "Stile" and find a definition for**_ _ **Stile**_ _ **: An arrangement of steps that allows people but not animals to climb over a fence. They agree this is not the Stiles for which they are looking.**_

"Yes because I'm not some arrangement of steps" Stiles rolled his eyes.

 _ **Malia is taking a make-up math test with**_ _ **Natalie Martin**_ _ **in the counselor's office. She's frustrated and losing control. Natalie tries to get her to calm down, and breath but Malia freaks and turns into a coyote. She runs away down the hall. In the library, Scott and Lydia hear her howl and decide the test must not be going well. Scott, Lydia, Natalie, and**_ _ **Sheriff Stilinski**_ _ **find Malia in the basement where she used to come to lock herself up on the full moon. The Sheriff urges Scott to "Alpha" growl at her to make her calm down, but Lydia suggests they move away since they've invaded her territory where she feels safe. It works. Malia changes back and Mrs. Martin gives her back her clothes. The others are confused as to why Malia is suddenly shifting; they agree that the pressure of school and the recent attempt by her mother to kill her should not be having this effect. They wonder if it is connected to Stiles and the Sheriff explains that it's a Stilinski family nickname used by his father.**_

"Never thought grandpa would come to help us out like that huh?" Stiles said with a smile that Noah half heartedly returned.

 _ **At the Stilinski home, the sheriff, Claudia, Lydia, and Scott talk about**_ _ **Elias Stilinski**_ _ **. He was an Army engineer who went by Stiles. He currently lives "three towns over" in a nursing home. Scott explains that they believe someone was taken from them and the Ghost Riders erased their memories. Lydia says they found a clue in the word Stiles. Scott says he thinks the person missing might have been his best friend. The sheriff says his father can't help and refuses to discuss it further. An old woman walks through the living room. It seems no one but Lydia can see her. She stops, turns and says, "The following stops have been canceled."**_

"Weird thing for a ghost to say" Liam muttered. "What makes you think she is a ghost?" Mason asked. "Well only Lydia can see her" Liam pointed out.

 _ **The sound of a train fills the room but again, only Lydia can hear it. She asks to be excused to go to the bathroom and follows the old woman down the hall to where she stands before a blank wall. Lydia tries to question her but gets no reply. She reaches out to touch her but**_ _ **Claudia Stilinski**_ _ **calls out and when Lydia turns back the old woman is gone.**_

"Wait isn't that where my room is" Stiles asked. "Yeah" Noah muttered.

 _ **Melissa McCall**_ _ **comes downstairs and hears a noise in her kitchen. She grabs a candle holder for a weapon and enters. She finds**_ _ **Chris Argent**_ _ **making coffee. He says he needs her help to get into the morgue to look at a body.**_

"Great way of asking for help" Melissa rolled her eyes while Chris just shrugged.

 _ **Gwen**_ _ **is in the library looking through yearbooks for signs of her sister Phoebe.**_ _ **Hayden**_ _ **tries to talk to her about her missing sister. Gwen explains that she got up in the night to get some water and saw a man in a hat and long coat outside in the front yard. He seemed to vanish. Then this morning, she found her sister's room empty. She also can't get in touch with her mom and tried to call Phoebe's phone, but the line is disconnected. The cops and the school say there is no record of her. The only thing Gwen has left of her sister is a friendship bracelet that she wove for her for Phoebe's birthday. Hayden explains the Ghost Riders and how they take people, but Gwen doesn't believe her and storms off.**_

"They always need proof" Peter shook his head. "Another thing though. Guess if you have something of theirs on you, you can end up remembering them" Stiles pointed out. "Probably should keep your stuff with us from now on" Scott chuckled.

 _ **In the hospital morgue, Argent explains that the damage to the truck driver's head was caused by a werewolf with "an unusually powerful set of jaws." He also says this isn't the only victim with a bite like this. Scott decides they're going to see Elias Stilinski despite the sheriff's wishes. Liam says they could stay in Beacon Hills and help him convince Gwen she's in danger. Scott says his job isn't to convince her; it's to keep her safe. Malia suggests he just kidnap her, but Scott vetoes this idea.**_

"Yeah I second Scott" Stiles deadpanned while Malia rolled her eyes.

 _ **Scott is confident Liam can handle the situation pointing out that his beta is not alone since he has Mason, Corey, and Hayden to help. He says they should find a safe place for Gwen and keep her there. Liam, Mason, Corey, and Hayden discuss what to do about Gwen. They need to keep an eye on her at all times. Hayden believes she's going to be at Nathan's party looking for signs of her sister. Liam says they can't keep her safe at Nathan's house because they "need a place where supernaturals can't get in." Mason says he knows the safest place. Scott, Lydia, and Malia head to the Goodwater Assisted Living facility. Malia knocks out the nurse and locks him in a closet.**_

"Was that really necessary" Lydia rubbed the bridge pf her nose while Malia shrugged and Peter barked a laugh.

 _ **They find Elias Stilinski alone in the dayroom listening to old trumpet music. He seems confused by the intrusion. Thinking this is the Stiles they've been looking for, Lydia introduces herself and asks if the old man knows her. He doesn't. Malia, impatient and uncomfortable, asks if he knows any of them. Stilinski believes Scott is his son. Elias believes it is 1976, the week before his son's birthday. Lydia concludes he has dementia.**_

"Well it's good to know my best friend looks like a younger version of my dad. Are you sure he isn't my brother? OW! I was just kidding sheesh" Stiles finished rubbing his head where Lydia had just smacked him.

 _ **There's a DJ set up in the McCall's living room spinning for a huge crowd of students. Liam tries frantically to keep people from damaging Scott's house. Nathan shows up enraged that Liam "stole" his party. Mason pays him off with a few hundred bucks and Nathan seems happy enough after that.**_

Both McCalls groan loudly.

 _ **Liam is worried that moving the party to the McCall's wasn't a good idea. He says Melissa already doesn't like him. Mason assures him that Melissa is at work till 4 AM and Scott did say to do whatever it takes to keep Gwen safe. He says putting her in a house lined with**_ _ **Mountain Ash**_ _ **is a good plan.**_

"It isn't a bad idea" Allison said with a weak shrug.

 _ **Lydia tries to explain to Elias that his son is the Sheriff of**_ _ **Beacon Hills**_ _ **but the old man becomes even more agitated. Malia suggests Scott use his claws to retrieve Stilinski's memories but he says it could kill him. Malia doesn't care. She says they're running out of time and makes to do it herself, flicking out her claws. Elias says, "Young lady, you need to clip those nails."**_

"Grandpa is funny man" Stiles snorted.

 _ **Hayden is shocked to learn that alcohol doesn't work on werewolves. Liam explains it's due to their accelerated healing that repairs whatever damage the drink could do before they feel the effects. They kiss. Liam says if the Ghost Riders don't show up, this could be their first "okay" date. Gwen heads upstairs and Hayden follows.**_

"As if it's gonna be that easy" Hayden snorted.

 _ **Elias becomes even more agitated and demands the group leave. He threatens to report them. Lydia says he's "sundowning," a common occurrence for dementia patients who "lose their faculties after the sun goes down." Elias begins to shout. Lydia says they'll have to wait until the sun comes back up to talk to him. Lydia, desperate to keep the old man quiet, begins presenting him with math equations. As a former engineer, Elias quickly calms and focuses on the solving the problems presented. She explains that math can help dementia patients concentrate.**_

"The bane of our existence is a helping hand for the demented" Stiles chuckled.

 _ **Elias suddenly comes to his senses. He takes on a tone of condescension and shouts he is "Mr. Stilinski" and wants to know "just who the hell do you think you are?"**_

"Yup he's back" Noah shook his head.

 _ **Back at the party, Corey is worried that they forgot something. He says if the Ghost Riders get in, he won't have much to offer in the way of fighting. Mason reassures him and they dance together. Elias has all his faculties back. He knows Scott is not his son. In fact, he knows Scott's father and says that he "couldn't handle his liquor" and cheated on Scott's mother repeatedly.**_

Raphael looked anywhere but his son while Melissa coughed uncomfortably.

 _ **Malia becomes more agitated and growls as the old man continues. He also knows Lydia and says she looks like her mother. He says Natalie was "pretty once too." Malia is pissed. Her eyes flash blue and she demands that Elias stop talking. Elias keeps talking claiming Natalie also "liked to talk like she was the smartest person in the room."**_

"Rude" Lydia grumbled while Stiles rubbed her back with a nervous chuckle.

 _ **Malia loses it, flips her claws, and moves toward him. The Sheriff bursts in with the formerly knocked out nurse. While the sheriff is angry, his father seems calm and says, "Noah, we were just having a nice conversation."**_

"Nice conversation" Noah shook his head. "Your father was always a conversationalist" Claudia mumbled, lost at how to describe her father in law.

 _ **The sheriff orders Scott, Lydia and Malia out of the room. As they leave, Elias becomes agitated again and screams, "That's right. Act like I'm not even here! Go crawling back to your dead wife and your loser son!" The sheriff asks him to repeat what he said but Elias is instantly confused again and simply asks if it's time for his medicine.**_

"He…remembers?" Noah perked up. "Guess his dementia didn't let him forget about your life but damn grandpa didn't need to be so blunt" Stiles muttered. "You're just offended that he called you a loser" Lydia muttered.

 _ **Hayden is keeping an eye on Gwen who sits on Scott's bed. Thunder rolls outside, and downstairs Corey says it sounded like it was right on top of them. A black spot appears on the ceiling above them and spreads out in all directions. Gwen comes running down the stairs saying she saw a rider. Hayden is close behind. Corey takes up a position next to the wall and goes invisible. He can see the Ghost Rider as it walks slowly through the living room. He reaches out for it and both become visible to everyone.**_

"Oh no" Peter groaned. "What? What did I do!?" Corey looked at the wolf. "You just let everyone see the rider. They are all targets now. Including the wolf couple and your boyfriend and yourself" he said with a sigh and instantly everyone in the room who hadn't figured it out got wide eyed in horror. "I didn't mean to" Corey muttered in shock. "We'll deal with this" Liam said to him, "we'll make sure it won't happen this time" he said in a matter fact tone. Corey absently nodded his head

 _ **Mason grabs the jar of Mountain Ash and seals off the kitchen from the living room. He, Hayden, and Gwen are protected the Ghost Rider cannot get through. He starts lashing out with his whip and seems to create fissures in the barrier that seal up slowly after each strike. Corey and Liam, still in the living room, attack the rider but are easily rebuffed. He continues to lash at the barrier and Mason decides it's time to run. He and Gwen head out the back door but are met by another rider. Mason can't see it but Gwen can and rushes them both back into the house. The rider inside lashes once more and his whip passes through the barrier and wraps around Gwen's leg. She is pulled forward but Mason and Hayden pull her back.**_ _ **Jordan Parrish**_ _ **enters and yells, "Freeze!" The rider doesn't stop so Parrish shoots him in the back several times. The bullets have little effect but do get the creature's attention. It turns toward Parrish and walks to him. They stand face to face for a moment until the rider disappears in a swirl of leaves.**_

"Did Parrish scare him off?" Noah looked at the screen. "I think there is something else we are missing" Lydia muttered.

 _ **Argent explains that the other head-bite victim, Denise Novak, was found in a campsite with the back of her head cracked open. Melissa says the size and bite pattern appear to be the same as on the truck driver. She finds it odd, even for Beacon Hills, that something would kill like this and not take anything. Chris says they did take something from Novak, her pineal gland. Melissa cuts into the truck driver's brain and finds his pineal gland is missing as well. Argent explains that the gland is considered by some to be the seat of the human soul and "a conduit to express our souls through physical action." He says it looks like someone is biting open heads to steal souls.**_

"Great so we have a reaper to deal with too now" Stiles groaned.

 _ **At the**_ _ **Sheriff's station**_ _ **, Natalie yells at Scott, Malia, and Lydia for what they did at the nursing home. She says they're talking felony assault charges for Malia. She says she didn't beat up the nurse, she could have but chose not to. Lydia says this is an improvement. The sheriff says all is well, by some miracle the nurse isn't going to press charges and they're free to go. Martin says Lydia is grounded for eternity. Claudia is waiting in the Sheriff's office. He says "those kids" did a dumb thing but their hearts are in the right place. He asks her if she ever has second thoughts about them choosing not to have kids. She says, "Not once." They exit arm in arm.**_

Stiles looked down at his feet and fidgeted slightly. "Stiles" Claudia began and put a hand on his back, "this is an illusion. You know we both love you so much. We have loved you since the day you first screamed in this world" she said soothingly and kissed him on the cheek. "Yeah" Stiles said in a whisper.

 _ **Liam tries to explain to Scott why he trashed his house. He said it was the safest place they could find. Scott realizes that Liam and the rest of the party saw a Ghost Rider and that, according to the legend, anyone who does will be taken. Scott believes everyone at the party will be taken. Later, the sheriff stops by Scott's house as he is cleaning up from the party. Scott apologizes for going to see Elias. The sheriff offers to help clean up. He explains that a scar on his chest was from his father. He says he tried to stop his father from "going after" his mother and Elias pushed him through a glass table. He says little pieces of glass are still in there working their way out for the rest of his life. He says it was a small price to pay to keep him away from her. They end up talking about a dream Noah had. In the dream, he and Claudia are in college and were discussing what they would name a child if they had one. He says he wanted to name a boy after Claudia's father. He says he wants to use her family name because her dad is great. He's the kind of father he wishes he'd had and the kind Stilinski hopes to be.**_

"And we did end up doing that" Claudia chuckled lightly. "And it's a name no one can even pronounce correctly" Stiles shook his head with a small smile.

 _ **She doesn't think it would be nice to saddle a kid with such a name but eventually agrees. She says it doesn't matter what they name him because everyone would end up calling him Stiles.**_

"You knew?" Stiles looked at her. "Call it a mother's intuition" Claudia smiled and ruffled his hair. Stiles closed his eyes and just enjoyed this moment. He knew that once this was all over she would be gone, never to return. He leaned into her touch and just sighed contently.

 _ **A janitor is mopping up one of the classrooms at**_ _ **Beacon Hills High School**_ _ **. Garret Douglas attacks him and bites off the back of his head. He then digs around in the dead man's brain and comes out with a small bloody orb of flesh. He eats it. His eyes roll back in his head and then turn alpha red.**_

"Great it's an Alpha Werewolf Reaper" Mason groaned, adding to the statement Stiles had previously made.


	95. 6-4

_**Melissa McCall**_ _ **finds**_ _ **Chris Argent**_ _ **in the woods. She's decided that she wants to help in the search for whatever is biting into folks' skulls and eating their pineal gland.**_ _**Melissa says she's sick of seeing people she cares about getting hurt. She says it's about time she does something too.**_

"Scott I know that look and no you cannot push me out of this after everything I have seen" Melissa huffed at the look Scott was giving her. "But mom it's dangerous" Scott said. "As if I don't know that! I have watched my son jumping into the fray so many times and every time coming out with one major injury or another. I have watched it second hand and already feel this dread but future me has seen it first hand and experienced it. I know why I want to do it and I will do it sooner if I have to in order to protect my son" she said with a slight tremble in her voice. "Mom I heal" Scott began, "you don't and I don't want to be in a place where I have to see you fighting for your life and praying to whatever God is up there just to see you alive again" Scott said calming Melissa slightly. "I promise, you will not see me like that ever" she whispered and hugged her son tightly, "it's a parent's duty to protect their child and it's about time I damn well do it" she said soothingly, rubbing his back gently.

 _ **Chris chastises her to be quiet. They find a couple of bicyclers with their heads caved in. Chris says whatever did it is still close by. They catch sight of Malia and Argent "wings her" with a bullet and brings her down. She is growling and angry when they get to her.**_

"Sorry" Chris said when he heard a growl from the back.

 _ **The ceiling of Scott McCall's living room still shows the black mark that appeared during the Ghost Rider attack.**_ _ **Mason**_ _ **explains that it's the point of impact from a lightning strike. Scott suspects that's how the Ghost Rider got past the**_ _ **Mountain Ash**_ _ **and into the house; "he rode the lightning." Cory points out that it's his fault that the other students are "marked" by the riders because he made the one at the party visible. Scott promises that they'll protect them all. In the hospital morgue, Melissa attempts to remove the bullet from Malia's leg. She continues to growl and thrash about. She grabs onto Chris' arm and squeezes to the point of causing him pain.**_

"Wimp" Malia muttered to herself. Peter who had caught what she said snorted.

 _ **Malia says she was out in the woods because she caught a scent of blood and followed it. Chris says that when a coyote smells a fresh kill, the smell overcomes its senses. The blood drives it crazy. Malia, tired of Melissa digging around in her leg, rips it out herself and hands it back to Chris.**_

"You should become a doctor" Stiles points out. "Get those tricky things out in an instant" he finished with a chuckle then a wince when he was hit in the face by a pillow by your local coyote.

 _ **Gwen**_ _ **is tripping out a little bit at school. Hayden shows up and says she's following her to keep her safe. Liam reads from a book in the library, "The K Index quantifies disturbances in the horizontal component of Earth's magnetic field." Mason explains that the K index is a scale that meteorologists used to measure thunderstorm activity. Mason explains that the average storm has about a thousand lightning strikes. The past three months the average storm over**_ _ **Beacon Hills**_ _ **had about five thousand strikes. They note that the correlation between the K-Index is a way to track the Ghost Riders movements. The K-Index on Mason's computer is at 14 but begins to rise as they watch.**_

"Show time" Mason said and then yelped on pain when he tried to crack his fingers.

 _ **Lydia explains to Scott and Malia that Jake's ID and Gwen's sister's bracelet are relics that prove they existed. She says these items left behind suggest the Ghost Riders can't erase everything. She says Conservation of Mass within an isolated system remains constant. Scott sees this as a weakness of the Ghost Riders. Malia says a relic could be proof that Stiles existed. Liam and Mason argue over what to do with the impending Ghost Rider attack. Liam wants to fight them. Mason says they should hide. Liam suggests getting a lightning rod to attract the Ghost Riders and catch them off guard. Mason suggests they hide underground since the Earth would ground lightning's electrical charge. Scott says they should take everyone to the Argent Bunker because it's underground and lined with Mountain Ash.**_

"Sound plan" Chris nodded. "You approve?" Allison raised an eyebrow delicately. "Not entirely since there are many ways that it can go wrong but it's the best they can do at the moment" Chris elaborated.

 _ **Liam attempts to convince**_ _ **Nathan**_ _ **and the rest of the lacrosse players to skip the game and come to the bunker. He says a supernatural creature is coming to erase his soul.**_

"Right they would so believe that" Peter rolled his eyes.

 _ **Nathan brushes off the danger saying it was just a man in a hat with a gun. Mason switches tactics and says the guy is coming to shoot Nathan in the head.**_

"Now that is how you convince people" Peter pointed out.

 _ **Lydia wants to search**_ _ **Sheriff Stilinski**_ _ **'s house for relics of Stiles. Noah tells her that he couldn't sleep the night before and went to retrieve paperwork from the garage and stubbed his toe on a baseball bat. He instinctively yelled a name.**_

"A relic?" Noah perked up slightly. "Probably. It could also be your bat in the illusion" Derek said.

 _ **Hayden and Liam get all the students except Gwen into the bunker. Nathan fires off a Taser by mistake. Argent tells him not to touch anything. Liam tells Scott they're missing Gwen and three other players. He has a list of names including Pierce, Fuller, Dunne, Okafur, Flores, Gallaher, Steinbach, Mackey. Corey says they're all lacrosse players. Mason points out they're running out of time. The K-Index app on his phone moves from 37 to a reading of 40. Liam says they have to get them. Scott says he'll go alone, but Liam points out that they all couldn't fight off one Ghost Rider at the party and there's no telling how many might show up tonight. Scott points out that they're all marked, but that doesn't faze them. Corey says at least he can see them coming. Scott agrees but says if they see them coming everyone should run.**_

"Very good idea" Corey nods furiously.

 _ **Lydia wanders through the Stilinski's house.**_ _ **Claudia**_ _ **offers to help but Lydia declines and Claudia leaves the room. Lydia wanders down the hallway and back to the spot she noticed on her last visit. It is midway down the hall. There seems to be air escaping from behind the wallpaper. A man appears at the end of the hall and yells "You didn't see it, did you? It's right in front of your face!" She turns back to the wall, and the man disappears. She begins peeling back the wallpaper but Claudia rushes back in and shouts at Lydia and grabs her arm. Lydia apologizes and flees.**_

"Talk about being over protective" Claudia muttered. The illusion version of her was giving her the creeps. "You think Stiles' room is a relic in itself?" Lydia asked Scott who shrugged, "probably".

 _ **Argent calls Malia to help him babysit the marked students. She says she's not a good babysitter because "coyotes eat their young." Chris tells her a story from his youth about someone losing control and slaughtering an innocent. Chris says he did nothing to stop it. Malia thinks he's talking about a werewolf, but he's talking about**_ _ **Kate Argent**_ _ **. He says if he'd done something she might not be "the monster that she is today." He says the way for Malia to remain human is to get involved.**_

"I think even with your intervention you couldn't save the thing that is Kate Argent" grumbled Peter who found it offensive that his daughter was compared to that psychopath.

 _ **Nathan finds one of Argent's sonic spikes and triggers it. Malia promptly shuts it off. Nathan complains about being stuck in the bunker. Chris says they'll stay as long as it takes. Hayden finds Gwen in the locker room. She realizes the girl wants to get taken by the Ghost Riders. Scott, Corey, Liam, and Mason head for the locker room. Scott says the plan is to convince Okafur, Steinbach, and Wallace that playing tonight is a bad idea. A thought strikes Scott, he turns to Mason and says that with his knowledge of the Ghost Riders he should be able to come up with something that will stop them. The locker room is almost empty. Most of the players are already on the field. Coach yells for Corey, Liam, and Scott to suit up and get out there. The boys realize they'll not be able to get the players back in the bunker now.**_

"Damnit Bobby" Claudia sighed in frustration.

 _ **Lydia is searching old school records for information on Claudia.**_ _ **Natalie Martin**_ _ **comes in and starts yelling at her about peeling off Claudia's wallpaper. She says she's known Claudia since high school and she trusts her. Natalie suggests that Lydia has a "confirmation bias" meaning that she's already come to a conclusion and is interpreting information to confirm that conclusion while ignoring evidence that would disprove it. Natalie says Lydia's looking for evidence that what she believes is true because she wants it to be true. Lydia insists that Stiles is real. Natalie agrees to be an unbiased perspective and gets Lydia to go through everything she knows so far.**_

"Getting it all sorted out in your head is a good way to figure things out" Stiles mused.

 _ **At the game, Scott says he'll protect Steinbach and Wallace. He says Liam should protect Gwen and says Corey should protect Okafur. He says if Corey sees Ghost Riders he should yell and then get ready to fight. On the field, Corey, Scott, and Liam keep getting in the way and messing up the other players. The other team, the Bulldogs, keep scoring on the disorganized BHHS team.**_ _ **Lori**_ _ **and**_ _ **Sydney**_ _ **watch the game from the stands just above Mason.**_

"The coach will not be pleased" Stiles winced. "Fuck the coach" Liam grumbled then winced when he got slapped on the back of his head by Hayden.

 _ **Down in the bunker Jayden begins to freak out. Malia asks for the stun gun but Argent suggests Malia think of a "less seizure-inducing way" to calm her down. Malia promises her that nothing is getting through the door but then realizes Nathan is missing. Back at the game, Mason sees two players jump towards each other and it reminds him of the painting of the**_ _ **Hellhound**_ _ **and**_ _ **The Beast**_ _ **in the**_ _ **Dread Doctors**_ _ **lair. He then remembers how the Ghost Rider at the**_ _ **McCall House**_ _ **backed down when**_ _ **Jordan Parrish**_ _ **confronted it. He realizes that Parrish might have some control over the riders.**_

"Or the other way around" Stiles mumbled, "and how in the world did you even connect those two things" he looked at Liam who shrugged.

 _ **The game continues to go badly and the players begin to fight each other. Tensions are running high and Scott and Liam wonder if it's the**_ _ **Wild Hunt**_ _ **messing with people's heads. They hear lightning and the wind begins to pick up. Mason tells Hayden to call her sister and get Parrish to the school. It begins raining. Three riders are on the field.**_

"The three stooges! Just great!" Stiles groaned.

 _ **Argent explains that if Nathan gets out of the tunnels, he'll break the Mountain Ash seal. On the field, the Referee calls the game due to the storm. A rider has one of the students and drags him behind his horse until he disappears.**_

There was a collective sigh in the room.

 _ **Parrish arrives and Mason explains that the hellhound could stop the riders. People in the crowd at the game start seeing the riders and run away. Scott, Liam, and Corey circle up with the marked players in the center of the field. They are quickly surrounded. The spectators that fled the game are caught by a rider behind the buses. He fires a single shot and they each disappear in a puff of green smoke. On the field, one of the marked players is shot and disappears. Scott realizes he can now see the riders when he's not holding onto Corey, meaning he is now marked as well. A rider takes aim at Gwen but Liam tackles him and knocks him off his horse. The rider throws him off and shoots another player. Liam says they can't stop them but Scott tells him to protect Gwen, flashing his red eyes and growling at the riders.**_

"This is bad" Stiles mumbled. "This is very bad" Scott agreed.

 _ **Natalie and Lydia want Melissa to show them Claudia's medical files. Natalie says she is "recently enlightened" and urges Melissa to trust her because "there are lives at stake." The records show she never had a child but did have frontotemporal dementia "10 years ago." Melissa is shocked Claudia is still alive and says it's a miracle.**_

"Wish that actually happened" Noah thought ti himself. There has not been a single day that he hasn't missed his wife. The time he had gotten here is the best form of counseling he could ever get. His wife was here, beside him, being the mother she always wanted to be to their son and it hurts him to think how much Stiles had missed her as well which he had over looked because of his own problems. He was pulled out of his thoughts when Claudia put a hand on his and gave it a gentle squeeze. "It wasn't your fault" she whispered. Noah smiled slightly, pushing the tears back "you could always read my mind" he whispered and put an around her, pulling her closer to him.

 _ **Malia follows Nathan's scent through the tunnels. She gets close but Nathan continues to run away. One of the spectators from the game runs into the school followed closely by a ghost rider. He shoots her and she disappears. Mason, Hayden, and Parrish round the corner. Parrish burns brightly as his eyes glow and his hellhound side emerges. The rider shoots him, he glows green, and reverts to human. Hayden growls and runs toward the rider but it disappears in a bolt of lightning.**_

"Guess it wasn't you time" Liam said, holding Hayden's hand tightly.

 _ **On the field, Gwen steps forward and taunts the riders. One shoots her and she falls into Scott's arms before disappearing. Malia and Argent catch up to Nathan who stubbornly refuses to stay in the tunnels. He lifts the grate to reach the surface and a rider grabs him and pulls him up. He disappears in smoke and the riders jump down into the tunnel. Malia growls and Argent opens fire.**_

"Stupid kid!" Malia snarls.

 _ **Scott is on the phone as Hayden, Mason, Liam, and Corey limb down to the locker room. He says everyone from the bunker is gone and Argent is at the hospital injured. Liam blames himself. Scott says it's not his fault. He takes the blame on himself. Scott says they should have both defended the bunker and tried the thing with the lightning rod as that would have given them a better chance. Liam is still miserable.**_

"Jesus it's like watching two Scott's out there taking it all on himself" Stiles rolled his eyes while the two in question yelped in protest.

 _ **He enters the locker room to praise from**_ _ **Coach Finstock**_ _ **. He says the fact that Liam stayed on the field during the storm shows humility and grace. Liam says, "We lost. We lost everything." He's talking about losing all the players and others from the party. Finstock picks up on his despair and rage in his voice but thinks he means the game and continues to praise him. He names Liam team captain and gets the other players to clap for him. As they chant "Liam, Liam, Liam," he straightens his back and a look of resolve comes over his face.**_

"Team captains make good Alphas" Laura joked. "Well it does. Look at Scott" Derek put in his own two words.

 _ **Argent is wheeled through the hall at**_ _ **Beacon Hills Hospital**_ _ **. Melissa says he has blunt force trauma to his temporal bone, broken ribs, and lashes from the rider's whip. Lydia joins Scott and Malia in the hall and updates them that Claudia never had children so Stiles can't be her son. Both Scott and Malia seem ready to give up on the search for Stiles. Lydia says they have to keep trying. Malia says they should focus on defeating the Ghost Riders instead. In the hospital room, Chris reaches out and takes Melissa's hand.**_

Allison tilts her head slightly.

 _ **Liam sits in the locker room re-stringing his lacrosse stick. Mason, Liam, and Hayden say they should go. Liam decides he wants to catch a Ghost Rider and tells them to go home. They don't. They follow him out into the parking lot and say they're not leaving him. As they walk through the parking lot, they pass a blue jeep.**_

"And nobody fucking saw my jeep out there for like days!?" Stiles groaned in frustration catching the attention of many in the room.


	96. 6-5

"Stiles take a breath" Scott said slowly getting up. "Calm down? You want me to calm down!? Well too fuckin bad cause I can't! The more time that passes I'm being forgotten. Grandpa remembered me for like a moment and that too went up. My jeep was in the lot from like the night I disappeared and no one is able to se it. And soon you guys would forget me and everything would settle down and I'd be lost forever!" Stiles screamed, panting hard. "Stiles" Lydia whispered and pulled him back down, his parents at a loss at what to say to their son, "we will do everything we can and then more to get you back. We will never forget you. I will never forget you" she whispered and hugged the boy tightly as he slumped against her. "I don't want to be forgotten" he said in a broken voice, "I don't want to lose everyone. I don't want to lose you" he said in a whisper.

After Stiles had calmed down considerably, and everyone sat back down the show resumed.

 _ **Stiles Stilinski sits with dozens of other people in what appears to be a rundown train station. The people are silent and seem distracted. Stiles realizes that the keys to his Jeep are in his hand. He speaks to Doctor Sandra Hugo. He says, "Where are we?" She says they're at train station 137 but doesn't seem to remember how long she's been there or much anything else including why she's still wearing her scrubs from work. A businessman sitting next to her reading a paper says they've been there for at least six hours.**_

"That is where all the souls they take end up in?" Peter raised an eyebrow. "Apparently" Talia mumbled.

 _ **Stiles gets up and walks to the ticket booth. The sign says "Back in 5 Minutes" but the dust on the counter is thick. Stiles turns to ask if anyone works at the station when a voice comes over the intercom. "The following stops have been canceled: Hollatine, Baddon, Bay Burry, Deer Ridge, Red Oak, Trenton, Anderson, King Springs." All the people get up from their seats and head for the tunnel marked "To Trains." Stiles follows asking them if they know which train is coming. Wind sweeps through the tunnel bringing with it rustling leaves and the sound of the Ghost Riders on horseback. The people in the waiting area panic and flee, taking refuge behind the rows of pews as the Riders enter and dump a tied man onto the floor. The man's bonds disappear in a puff of green smoke. The riders tear through the station knocking people down as they ride. Someone grabs Stiles and thrusts him behind a column. It's**_ _ **Peter Hale**_ _ **.**_

"Huh. They took me too" Peter blinked. "You don't seem to be panicking" Mason pointed out. Peter shrugged, "well I don't really have anyone at that point to return to so" he shrugs again. Talia looked at her brother with a sad look.

 _ **The riders return through the tunnel and everyone in the station, save Stiles, immediately returns to their seats and their formerly docile questions Peter who explains that he's there to catch a train. When pushed on how he got there, he says he probably took a cab. He appears to have forgotten about the Ghost Riders already. Stiles seems to the only person to remember as the others are as docile as before including the guy the riders just dumped. Peter asks Stiles to move because he's "blocking the board."**_

"It's weird seeing you so calm and docile" Laura said honestly. "I know" Peter agreed with a nod and snort.

 _ **The board is a list of arrivals and departures. The towns of Beacon Hills, Bodie, Boneville, Pripyat, Bannack, Skido, Canaan, Garnet, Harappa, and Red Bird are listed under the heading Arrivals. With each listed as "arrived" except Beacon Hills which is listed as "on time." The Departures board shows all towns are "delayed." They include Springville, Batten, Red Oak, Trenton, Anderson, King Springs, Cannon Creek, Hollatine, Bay Burry, and Deer Ridge.**_

"More targets" Allison muttered wide eyed.

 _ **Stiles reminds Peter that the last time anyone saw him, he was being locked away in**_ _ **Eichen House**_ _ **and the memories start flooding back. Peter remembers screaming as he is locked in a cell with**_ _ **Dr. Valack**_ _ **. Peter remembers carving**_ _ **The Spiral**_ _ **pattern signifying revenge on the floor of his cell. The power went out and his door opened. He left his cell and beat down a guard that tried to stop him. Then he ran from Eichen. At some later time, as he is getting into his car, he hears thunder and the Ghost Riders appear and shoot him.**_

"That was too easy" Peter pouted. "Stop complaining" Malia grumbled.

 _ **Stiles explains that the lockdown and power outage at Eichen House was three months prior. Peter is shocked and annoyed that nobody missed him in all that time. Stiles explains how the Ghost Riders erase memories. Peter is surprised to learn of the Ghost Riders. He's familiar with the story and says, "They ride the lightning. They are an unstoppable force of nature. But I promise you they don't make pit stops in train stations." Stiles is looking for a way out but Peter says there is no escape that he and Stiles are "doomed to ride the storm forever." Stiles believes there must be a way out of a train station but Peter says it's not real because Beacon Hills doesn't have a train station.**_

"So what? This is limbo?" Stiles asked alarmed. "It would seem so" Chris said thoughtfully.

 _ **Peter breaks the chain off one of the station doors and Stiles walks through. He emerges back in the station. Peter notices a man watching them, curious since everyone else is either "comatose or catatonic." They approach and the man, and demand to know why he's watching them. He says he's been trying to escape too.**_

"So you two aren't the only woken ones" Melissa sighed in relief. Maybe this guy could tell them something to think over.

 _ **He says the exit is right in front of their face but they've not seen it. The tunnel the Ghost Riders came through causes fear and people go out of their way not to notice it. The man says it's all part of the illusion, that the Ghost Riders want them to be afraid. Peter says he's not afraid and walks briskly toward the tunnel. He can't go in though and asks Stiles to push him inside. Once he does, the man walks briskly forward and into the dark. Stiles hesitates until Peter pulls him inside the tunnel.**_

"You two would make a good team" Lydia joked, trying to lift Stiles' mood. Stiles just snorted, which was a small victory for the strawberry blonde.

 _ **Mrs. Finch**_ _ **is teaching about the structures of the brain. She explains that the corpus callosum is the largest white matter structure in the brain and the bridge connecting all parts of the brain to each other. She says the ability for everything in the brain to communicate and work together allow for leaps in cognitive thinking. She adds that the structure is also credited with giving people a sense of intuition. Lydia is distracted. There is a blue jeep in the parking lot. A tow truck driver is hooking it up in preparation to tow it away. She is so distracted by this, she eventually leaves class with Scott following close behind. Mrs. Finch asks the remaining students if they understand that class attendance is not optional.**_

The room snorted in unison.

 _ **Lydia runs to the parking lot. The tow driver claims the jeep is abandoned. Lydia says it's hers to keep him from towing it way. Scott joins her and together they produce a $150 "drop fee" for the driver to leave the jeep. Deeper into the darkened tunnel Peter, Stiles, and their guide find another platform and an abandoned waiting area of what Peter calls "the phantom train station." The tracks lead off into another darkened tunnel beyond. It's the only way in or out according to the young man. The Ghost Riders return with another victim. They seem to appear out of a greenish tear in reality in the middle of the darkness.**_

"Definitely limbo" Stiles groaned.

 _ **The young man says been watching and timing the riders and thinks that by jumping on one of the horses on their way out, he can go with them and be free. Peter says he should try it. Stiles wants to stop him because a lot could go wrong.**_

"They ride the lightning. A lot is an understatement" Laura deadpanned.

 _ **The riders come back on their way out. Stiles still wants to stop him but Peter wants him to try and holds Stiles back as he reaches for the boy. He jumps and lands on the back of a horse. He rides up to the barrier and bounces off screaming. In a green flash, his body disintegrates.**_

"Yep thought so" Laura sighed.

 _ **Peter says that settles it. There's no way out. Stiles is still optimistic. Peter attempts to disabuse him of his optimism. He takes his wallet and throws the money and license in the air. He takes Stiles car keys and throws them onto the platform. Stiles is unmoved. He says Scott, Lydia or Malia will remember him and will come for him.**_

The people mentioned smiled wide. Except Malia whose scowl lessened.

 _ **Back in the main waiting area, Stiles sits next to the old woman who wandered through the Stilinski house in**_ _ **Sundowning**_ _ **. She says he's going to see her grandchildren and asks who he's on his way to visit. He says no one. The intercom voice again announces the cancelled stops. Stiles follows the wire from the speaker and finds the radio room filled with disused but working equipment. Stiles has apparently explained to Peter about the magnetic disturbances that accompany the Ghost Riders because Peter believes his theory is ridiculous. He says he can't use a**_ _ **ham radio**_ _ **to communicate across a supernatural barrier. He says Ghost Riders can't be seen, heard, or remembered and would not leave a gadget around so Stiles could call his friends. Peter turns a dial and high-pitched squeal fills the air. It's so loud both Peter and Stiles cover their ears. At**_ _ **Beacon Hills High School**_ _ **, Scott exits a classroom looking for the sound. Malia joins him the hall. She heard it too. They go in search of the source and find Lydia standing in front of the blue jeep. The sound is coming from the police band radio inside. Scott breaks the lock on the door and they get in.**_

"Huh they do leave behind gadgets" Peter mumbled to himself. "Luckily ones that connect to my jeep" Stiles sighed in relief. He might have a chance at returning.

 _ **Back in the radio room, Stiles is pushing buttons trying to get the microphone to work. Peter hears the Riders returning and gets Stiles to safety just before the rider, gun drawn, enters the radio room. Peter points out that he's saved Stiles' life twice. The sound in the jeep stops. Scott suddenly catches a scent of himself, Lydia, and Malia inside the vehicle but he and Malia both say they've never been inside the jeep. Lydia says they have but they don't remember. Malia seems frustrated that she's back to her "Stiles" theory again. Scott points out that**_ _ **Jordan Parrish**_ _ **checked the VIN and found it was not registered to anyone. Lydia says it didn't just park itself outside the school. Malia says again that Stiles is not real but Lydia searches the glove compartment and comes up with a registration from 1996. It lacks a name but has an address: 129 Woodbine Lane. Lydia says she knows the house.**_

"Well cause that's my house" Noah sat up straight.

 _ **Claudia Stilinski**_ _ **claims she hasn't seen the Jeep in almost 18 years. Lydia points out it's registered in her name. Claudia says it was stolen and the Sheriff says it was a junker back then and he doesn't know how it ended up at the high school or who would want it. He suspects that her questions about the jeep have something to do with Stiles.**_

"The jeep belonged to your mom?" Lydia sked. Stiles nodded his head and Lydia smiled to herself slightly. "That explains so much" she thought.

 _ **Claudia suggests it's time for Lydia to talk to her mother. Lydia begins to cry. She asks to be excused and goes back to the spot in the middle of the hall. She presses her hands against the wall, inspects the bit of wallpaper she tore earlier and eventually sits. In a split-screen we see Stiles sitting against the wall in the train station so it appears they are back to back.**_

"It looks like one of those long distance relationship posts you see on facebook" Theo said making a majority of the room either snort or chuckle.

 _ **The tow truck driver returns to the school to tow the jeep. Scott tries to talk him out of it but eventually Malia shows up and breaks the truck's hook meaning he can't take it.**_

"I'm so proud" Peter laughed, the words just pouring out of him. Malia blinked but stayed quiet.

 _ **The Ghost Riders return and everyone in the station panics and hides. The riders deposit**_ _ **Gwen**_ _ **and she is reunited with her sister Phoebe. Stiles recognizes her. Stiles asks how long the riders have been bringing people into the station. Peter looks at the "arrivals" board and realizes something. He says, "This isn't a train station. This is a waystation. It's not going to stop." Stiles realizes that Peter knows something about the cities listed on the board. Peter doesn't say what he knows but is suddenly desperate to get out of the station. He says nobody is safe. He says everybody Stiles has ever known is going to be taken and runs off toward the tunnel.**_

"Bet he is only worried about Malia" Hayden whispered to Liam who nodded. "I agree" he whispered back.

 _ **Stiles follows and catches up to Peter on the abandoned platform. Peter explains that the Ghost Riders are never going to stop. He says he's going through the portal. He believes that he will heal from whatever injuries it causes. Stiles urges him to find his friends and tell them he's alive. Peter balks and says his main goal will be to get clear of**_ _ **Beacon Hills**_ _ **. Stiles reminds him of Malia and suddenly all Peter's memories of her return. He remembers smelling her during his escape from Eichen House while she was locked in the morgue. Knowing he couldn't get to her he escaped the hospital alone. Stiles says he believes Peter is risking being incinerated for Malia. Peter asks Stiles to stall the riders when they come back through. Stiles throws a bench onto the tracks. As Peter prepares to jump, he realizes he's standing on Stiles' keys. He then jumps onto one of the horses and while the rider fights him, Peter manages to hang on. The final rider through notices Stiles, flips his whip around the boy's neck, and pulls him to the tracks. Stiles sputters but appears unharmed by the fall. Peter rides through the barrier and out of the tunnel. The air in the**_ _ **Beacon Hills Preserve**_ _ **splits, an iris of green lightning opens, and Peter Hale flies out of the breach. He is badly burned but manages to growl loudly.**_

"Throwback to the days I was a human barbecue" Peter snorted, referring to his burns from the fire. Talia shook her head, sometimes her brother could be this intelligent caring guy and sometimes this idiotic less caring man. He confused her too much.

 _ **Scott, Malia, and Lydia hear his cry. Lydia urges them to go find out who made the sound. Scott and Malia can smell Peter. They say it smells like he's burning. They find him and Malia says she knows his scent. She looks closely at his face and realizes it's her father. Scott still doesn't know him at first but then the memories of Peter come flooding back. They both wonder how they could have forgotten him. They realize he is holding something in his charred hand. They both reach down and use their ability to take away his pain. Once they've eased him a bit, his hand opens and they find Stiles' keys.**_

"He didn't let go" Stiles relaxed at the thought.

 _ **Stiles stares at the arrival board again trying to figure out the significance of the towns listed. Lydia tries the key they found in Peter's hand in the blue jeep. After some rough cranks and a warning from Scott not to flood the engine, it starts. Stiles works to get the radio room operational again. He manages to get a signal and the radio in the jeep squeals to life. He calls out through the microphone and Lydia hears him. She picks up the mic on her end and says, "Stiles." Scott calls his name too. He recognizes their voices and asks Lydia what the last thing he said to her was. She says, "Remember I love you." Stiles is overwhelmed with relief. Scott asks his location and says they'll come and get him but Stiles says it won't work. He tells them to remember Canaan. They have to find Canaan. The radio cuts out and Stiles is alone in the radio room.**_

"We are so close" Scott thought. "We will get him back" Malia thought which didn't surprise her as much as it used to, he was her friend after all. "No matter what it takes" Lydia thought with a fierce determination.


	97. 6-6

_**Lydia is in the locker room washing her hands in front of the mirror. Her reflection suddenly shifts to that of another woman with wild curly blond hair. He reaches out to the mirror and is pulled inside.**_

"It's like watching all my worst fears coming true" Lydia rubbed the bridge of her nose. "You're afraid of being pulled into a mirror?" Allison raised an eyebrow. "Young me was. And now is me me" Lydia groaned.

 _ **Lydia is suddenly at a street fair in the town of Canaan. She races to catch up with the blond woman as families enjoy a cookout and Duran Duran's "Hungry Like the Wolf" plays on a boom box. A banner hung over the street proclaims this the "35**_ _ **th**_ _ **Annual Canaan Day."**_

"Well at least you found Canaan" Peter shrugged.

 _ **A rickety carousel spins slowly with children riding on faded and badly paint-chipped horses. Lydia notices one of the horses, a black one, is covered in blood.**_

"The children" Hayden muttered in horror. "I'm sure they're be okay" Liam said weakly.

 _ **The skies darken and chaos ensues. A man runs from a house and disappears in a puff of green smoke. Screaming people run in all directions. Each eventually disappears in the same fashion until only the blond woman remains. She screams into the lightning, thunder and wind, "It's not real." Lydia reaches out and touches her shoulder and the woman ages to an old woman in a flash. Lydia screams.**_

"So…Canaan is a town the ghost riders raided and that woman is the only one alive?" Theo summarized. "It looks like it" Mason nodded slightly.

 _ **Scott tells**_ _ **Noah Stilinski**_ _ **about their recent radio contact with Stiles. The sheriff is unconvinced. He says it could be just a random signal cross. Scott produces the keys and explains how Peter provided them and that they fit**_ _ **Claudia Stilinski**_ _ **'s Jeep which started easily. Noah is suspicious of**_ _ **Peter Hale**_ _ **suggesting that he too now remembers the former Alpha. Scott pleads with the sheriff, but the older man shuts him down, refusing to believe that he has a son that he doesn't remember. He shoves the keys back at Scott.**_

"I actually forgot him. Even when the proof is right there" Noah thought in pain. Claudia looked at her husband and rested her head on his shoulder.

 _ **Lydia relays to Malia the things she saw in her "dream" about Canaan. Malia says her research on the town has turned up little. No one answers at Canaan City Hall, and the only map reference to the town is 30 years old. Lydia says they just need to know how to get to the town. Scott is asleep in the back seat of a car. Malia taps him awake and informs him that they've arrived in Canaan. They emerge onto a leaf-strewn street with abandoned cars, rickety picket fences, and rundown houses. The "Canaan Day" banner still hangs, now faded and torn, across the street. They stare into what was once a town square, now covered in dirt and overgrown with weeds and Lydia declare Canaan a ghost town. As they wander through a residential street, Scott announces that he can't hear a single heartbeat and Malia says there are no scents either. As Scott wonders aloud why Stiles would send them to this town, a street light buzzes and flickers to life just above them. Looking at the tattered banner hanging across the street, Lydia declares that this is the place she saw in the mirror. Among the relics left abandoned on a picnic table, Scott picks up an early-model cell phone and a newspaper, Canaan Courier, dated April 8, 1987. Malia finds a receipt in a bag. It's dated April 8, 1987.**_

"So this was probably the place the riders attacked before they came to Beacon Hills" Peter mused.

 _ **The carousel creaks in the distance. They head toward it. The black horse is still covered in blood, and as Scott steps forward onto the rusted and faded metal platform, the ride suddenly starts turning, music blaring and horses bobbing up and down.**_

"That was creepy" Scott shivered.

 _ **Malia spots two bodies lying in the yard of an abandoned house. She instantly recognizes mom and her sister Kiley.**_

"Hallucination" Peter said calmly and put a hand on Malia's shoulder which she slapped away with a growl.

 _ **They are bloody, and their clothing is ripped. The doll Malia carried with her during her time trapped as a coyote lays near Kiley. Malia drops to her knees in tears. She lifts the doll and hears the voice of**_ _ **Theo**_ _ **behind her. He asks if this is Malia's adopted family. He then he knows she's thinking that she should have died with them and shoots her in the stomach with a shotgun. Malia falls to the ground. Her sister and mother open their eyes and embrace her, dragging her down into the ground.**_

Malia shook slightly at the sight. Sometimes she did wish for it, to be with her mother and sister, to have died with them. Peter looked to his daughter and just patted her head, he might not have been there for her thanks to his sister but this was his blood which had found and he would be damned if he fails her again. Malia peeked at Peter but said nothing.

 _ **Scott explores an abandoned house. The door slams behind him. Thinking someone is there, he races back outside. His mother is standing in the yard wearing her pink scrubs. As he watches, she turns revealing a large bloodied hole in her skull and walks away.**_

Scott sat up straight, as if he was shocked by a thousand volts in a second. "It's a hallucination" his mother told him gently and rubbed his back, making him relax slightly.

 _ **Lydia touches him, and he jumps. She explains that his mom is not really there. Scott says he saw her and explains that it looked as if somebody took a bite out of her skull. Lydia says it wasn't real. She says, "the energy here, it's causing hallucinations." She says they can't stay. Scott says they can't leave until they figure out why Stiles sent them. Lydia points out that there's no one to ask, but then they spot a small boy standing across the street with his back turned toward them. They call out to him, but he runs off. They chase him.**_

"A kid in an abandoned town? 20 dollars on that being a ghost" Corey piped up. "I agree with him" Mason pointed out. "We know" Scott and Lydia rolled their eyes.

 _ **They wander further down the street until they see curtains move in a window of one of the houses. They enter and call out. At first, it appears no one is there, but then they spot**_ _ **Lenore**_ _ **who seems thrilled to have visitors and greets them warmly.**_

"She isn't one though" Liam pointed out. "How can you be so sure?" Hayden asked with squinted eyes.

 _ **She says "Caleb" will be so happy to see them because it's been a long time since he's had anyone to play with. She invites them in and offers them lemonade. As they follow her through the house, Lydia realizes that she is the same woman, the blond, she saw earlier in the mirror.**_

"Because of that" Liam said with a smirk. "Lydia sees ghosts all the time" Mason pointed out much to the ire of Lydia. "Well this one isn't. I can feel it" Liam muttered.

 _ **Lenore explains that the Lemonade recipe was her mother's, "as much as I can remember." Scott and Lydia notice things floating in the glasses of Lemonade and don't drink. Malia takes several deep gulps and drinks half the glass.**_

"Always check before you drink" Peter sighed.

 _ **She and Scott tell Lenore they're looking for Stiles. The woman says it's been a while since anyone came through Canaan. When they press about how long it's been, she seems not to remember. Malia produces the 1987 receipt she found and Lenore becomes agitated. She chastises Malia for "disturbing" things which don't belong to her. Scott presses on saying they need to know what happened. Lenore explains that there was a picnic and that people had been leaving Canaan for a while and the day of the picnic was the day the last of them left. Scott expresses incredulity that everyone left at once, just "disappeared." Lenore becomes even more agitated at the use of the word "disappeared." She repeats that they "left." As if for emphasis on this last, the glasses on the table shake violently for a fraction of a second. Malia is undeterred; she asks, "Did they leave in a cloud of green smoke?" Lenore loses it. She jumps to her feet and screams "They just left!" The room seems to shake, and Scott, Malia, and Lydia are rattled and dazed.**_

"She is a banshee" Lydia's eyes widened. "Probably. Or something else" Talia muttered.

 _ **Lydia says they didn't mean to upset Lenore and the trio get up and head toward the door. Malia staggers a bit, and Scott seems to have trouble rising from his chair. As they make toward the door, it slams shut. Scott tries to open it, but it won't budge. Malia points out that he's a werewolf and should be able to get through the door. She tries to punch the window, but it also doesn't break or budge. Lydia turns to Lenore and asks her to please unlock the door. She replies that now that they're here, they need to stay because Caleb likes them.**_

"Remind me never to run into her" Peter shivered.

 _ **Lydia says they like Caleb but they need to help their town because people are disappearing there and Lenore could really help them. Lenore says no one can help. If they want to leave, they're going to go and go and there won't be anything Lydia can do about it. Caleb appears at the entrance to a hallway and says, in a strange, doubled voice, for Scott and Malia to come with him. Lenore has moved on to cleaning up the glasses in the dining room and Lydia urges her friends to follow the boy. They find Caleb in a darkened family room. There is a couple inches of dirty water on the floor, a TV showing static and an old video cassette recorder. Scott and Malia step tentatively into the room with the boy.**_

"Don't go into a room with dirty water and a tv showing static like that! Have you never seen a horror movie?" Mason groaned.

 _ **Scott notices a window and tries to open it but it won't budge. Scott asks the boy if he can help them get out but he says they have to stay because "mommy said so." Then, again in that doubled voice, he says, "This is home," and the door slams shut. Caleb picks up a wet video cassette and inserts it into the machine. Video of Caleb blowing bubbles appears. The date shows August 12, 1985. Malia points this out and asks the boy what year he was born. He turns to them, now dripping wet, and says 1976. Scott asks, "and when did you die?"**_

"You never ask a ghost when they died" Parrish sighed.

 _ **Lydia confronts Lenore about the disappearances. Explains about the Ghost Riders and suggests that they took everyone from Canaan. She asks if Lenore fought them or hid. Lenore breaks down and says she doesn't know why she was left behind. She says the riders took everyone but didn't take her. She screams and Lydia flies backward over the furniture. She suddenly realizes Lenore is Banshee.**_

"A banshee" Talia agreed now fully. "A very strong one if she could influence the whole house like that" Peter pointed. "I think it's the whole neighborhood" Lydia mumbled.

 _ **Still trapped with Caleb, Malia wonders aloud if she's having another hallucination because water is now pouring down the walls and the stairs. Scott says if she is, she's having the same one as him. Malia goes to attack Caleb but is stricken, suddenly choking. Water pours from her mouth.**_

Peter tensed slightly.

 _ **Lenore says it's not her fault the riders didn't take her. She says Lydia thinks they didn't because they brought back her dead son. Lenore moves to scream again but Lydia is ready for her and lets loose with her own scream. The two massive waves of sound seem to cancel each other out but Lydia is suddenly in another vision. She's back outside on the street. The carousel turns slowly. The events from her earlier "dream" play out again, but this time the Ghost Riders are visible. They take all the citizens until only Lenore is left. Lydia watches as they surround the blond woman, examine her, and then holster their weapons. They disappear leaving the Lenore alone on the empty street. The young woman screams and Lydia covers her ears.**_

"Can the ghost riders not erase harbingers of death?" Stiles asked thoughtfully.

 _ **Lenore and Lydia snap out of the vision. Lydia realizes that Lenore didn't see the Ghost Riders until the very end. She only saw people disappearing. Lenore explains how the riders surrounded her but didn't take her. Lydia says she was left because Lenore is a**_ _ **Banshee**_ _ **like her. Exhausted, Lenore walks to the mirror and wipes away the dust. She asks how long it's been and Lydia says it's been almost 30 years. Malia continues to choke on the gouts of water that are pouring from her mouth. Scott urges her to breathe. He shouts for Lydia and makes a run for the door but water beings to pour from his mouth too. He asks Caleb what he's doing to them and the boy responds that they're drowning just like he did and now they can all be friends forever.**_

"I love children but ghost children are the absolute worse" Hayden muttered. "I feel kinda sad for them" Liam shrugged. "Cause they want to kill you?" Hayden looked at Liam with a small glare. "Well for one they are kids. Second of all they are alone and want friends. And they know only ne way to get them, make people follow the same fate as they did" Liam shrugged. "Okay Dunbar shut up. You're making me pity the dead children" Hayden grumbled.

 _ **Lenore assures Lydia that she will be safe from the Ghost Riders in Beacon Hills. She explains that she doesn't want to be safe, she wants to save Stiles. She pleads with Lenore to not let her be the only one left behind and adds that she doesn't have a Caleb. Lenore waves her hand, says "go," and the door flies open. Scott and Malia can suddenly breathe again. Caleb says, "Mommy says you can go now." He returns to watching the old video of himself when he was alive. The door opens and they quickly make their way outside and back to Lydia. They're all ready to leave but Lydia stops and turns back. She tells Lenore to come with them but she says she couldn't leave Caleb. Lydia tries again pointing out that Lenore knows Caleb is not real but she refuses to leave him and returns to the house.**_

"That's just how mothers are. They can never leave their children behind" Claudia muttered with a sad smile at her son who didn't look at her and was busy fidgeting his hands.

 _ **In the car on the way back to Beacon Hills, Scott wonders aloud if Stiles sent them to Canaan to warn them of what could happen with the Ghost Riders. Malia says they need to get them to leave now but Lydia says they can't let them leave yet. Lydia says she saw in Lenore's memory what happens to the people they've taken once the Wild Hunt moves on to a new place. She says it's worse than death, that their souls are hollowed out and she thinks they became Ghost Riders and then were gone.**_

"I am not becoming one of them" Stiles said furiously. "As if we are going to let you" Malia rolled her eyes.

 _ **Back at Scott's house, Lydia explains to Malia that there are legends of the Wild Hunt and "the Morrígan" and that this is connected to why they left Lenore behind. She says the Morrigan was a Banshee and when the Wild Hunt moves on from Beacon Hills, Lydia will be left behind like Lenore.**_ _ **Claudia Stilinski**_ _ **awakes on the couch and sees her husband looking through a file of papers at the dining room table. The documents appear to be medical reports on types of frontotemporal disorders. Claudia joins Noah at the table. He says he was just thinking about how strong and amazing she is and adds that someone should write a medical paper on how she beat frontotemporal dementia.**_

Noah smiled sadly, holding his wife's hand who leant her head on his shoulder again.

 _ **Claudia says they should go to bed because she has to be up early to talk to the contractor about replacing the wallpaper Lydia peeled back in their hallway. They kiss and she heads off to bed. He follows a bit later but stops in the hallway. He stares at the damaged wallpaper and begins to peel it back more. His eyes grow wide.**_

"You realize something" Claudia said under her breath and Noah nods.

 _ **Liam and Hayden walk to class. He explains that Scott is okay with "the plan" as long as they don't destroy his house. Hayden is confused, she doesn't know what plan he's talking about. He reminds her that she had some ideas about catching a Ghost Rider but she says they were bad plans. As they discuss breaking into the Faculty Storage Room,**_ _ **Garrett Douglas**_ _ **overhears them. Liam says that to save the whole school from Ghost Riders he has no problem breaking and entering. The couple meets up outside the storage room later, and while they kiss, Hayden keeps an eye on nearby faculty members.**_

"Nazi wolf might be a problem so eyes peeled" Mason quipped.

 _ **Hayden says she has the list of supplies they need in her head. Liam worries she might forget something. But Hayden says if they get caught, she'd rather not have a list. The teachers down the hall leave and they head into the storage room. Liam wonders if they can just buy a lightning rod. Hayden says they cost 25 hundred dollars. As they round a corner, the find Garrett Douglas working on equipment. He acts nervous and makes as if to leave. They ask if he's making a Taser and he says no. Liam concludes that Mr. Douglas saw the Ghost Riders and is scared of being taken. The teacher claims he did, dozens of them, he accurately describes the scene during the Lacrosse game when some people were running from riders but others couldn't see them. Hayden admits that they saw the horsemen too and offers to tell him more if he really wants to fight back.**_

"I don't trust him. And no it's not because he is a Nazi. I have an odd feeling" Laura muttered out loud. "You aren't alone" Parrish muttered.

 _ **Later Hayden explains their plan to attach a lightning rod to funnel a rider into the tunnel where they plan to grab him and push him into the Argent bunker. Once the door is closed there's no way for him to ride the lightning back out. Douglas questions how they can keep him from riding the lightning right out of the tunnel before they get the door closed. Liam suggests their lightning rod would redirect the bolt meaning the rider could grab it. The teacher says they should assume the Riders have some sort of way to direct and control the lightning strikes.**_

"He seems to have done his research" Stiles narrowed his eyes.

 _ **Douglas says they need to absorb a lightning bolt but he can't build a conduit that could absorb even half the energy. The bell rings and Liam and Hayden head out to class. Liam suggests they could find a person to absorb the lightning. Hayden says she doubts even Kira could do that. Liam says**_ _ **Josh**_ _ **could do it because he ate electricity. She reminds him that Josh is dead but Liam points out that his power is not. Hayden says it might as well be dead because they can't get to it. While they never come right out and say it, they discuss trying to bring Theo back from wherever he ended up. Liam says he knows it's insane but he needs Hayden to back him.**_

"All things considered. I think you should do it" Scott nodded. "We need to get Stiles back and we need him if he can do it" Lydia elaborated at the various looks.

 _ **Later in the tunnels, Hayden points out that there is still time to bail on the plan to retrieve Theo. Liam admits it's not the perfect plan but they need "the bad part of the plan to make the good part work." They're met in the tunnels by**_ _ **Noshiko Yukimura**_ _ **who has her daughter's sword. She too believes it's a bad plan. She gives them one more chance to change their minds but they refuse. Liam says they don't know what else to do because the Ghost Riders seem unstoppable. Noshiko says they are unstoppable. She explains that they've been riding the storm and taking souls since long before she was born.**_

"Which is a very long time. I wonder how they came into existence though" Mason asked with a thoughtful face. "We'll find out later" Stiles sighed. He too was now curious.

 _ **Liam pleads, saying they won't survive them without her help. Noshiko says Kira entrusted her with the sword while she is off with the**_ _ **Skinwalkers**_ _ **. She says she's now trusting Liam because Noshiko believes her daughter would want her to do so. She clarifies that her trust should not be mistaken for agreement with what Liam has planned. He says he understands. He explains that Kira sent Theo away by stabbing her sword into the ground. Noshiko says if he wants to do it, he'll have to do it himself. She bows and hands him the sword. Noshiko says once it's done, Liam is responsible for whatever happens. She then leaves the two teens alone in the tunnel Liam moves to thrust the sword, at the last minute, Hayden yells for him to wait but it's too late. The sword strikes the concrete. A large glowing crack jets forward from the sword. A few feet from where they're standing, the ground explodes as a clawed hand shoots into the air. Theo climbs out of the hole and growls at them.**_

"Well I look pissed" Theo mumbled. "You don't say" Liam rolled his eyes.

 _ **Theo pushes Liam against the wall. Hayden pleads with him saying they brought him back. Theo asks about his sister. They explain that he killed her. He says he's going to kill them all and shoves Liam again. Hayden says to send him back. Liam explains what Kira's sword can do and Theo backs off. Liam says they need his power and then he can kill whoever he wants but that if he does kill them, he'll be worse off than ever. Theo says there's nothing worse than what he's been through. Liam explains about the Ghost Riders.**_

"That should work nicely" Theo rubbed his temples.

 _ **Elsewhere in the tunnel, Mr. Douglas has rigged up a wire and a gadget to simulate the high voltage of a lightning bolt. They have Theo grab the wire and turn up the juice. Theo is knocked backwards. Douglas explains that Theo was knocked down by "only a billion joules" and that a lightning bolt is five times as strong. They realize he no longer has Josh's abilities. Hayden checks his claws and realizes he doesn't have**_ _ **Tracy**_ _ **'s Kanima abilities either. Theo quips that he's back to "classic Theo." Liam is angered and says he should be remorseful since Theo killed his pack members for those powers. Theo says he just put them back the way he found them. Hayden says they should send him back and Liam moves to do it. Theo tries to talk them out of it saying he knows about the Wild Hunt from the**_ _ **Dread Doctors**_ _ **. He also hints that he knows the truth about Garrett Douglas but doesn't come right out and say that he was the Doctors' Nazi**_ _ **Werewolf**_ _ **in a tube. Despite Theo's discretion, Douglas says Liam should send him back down below.**_

"Well of course he would say that" Theo rolled his eyes.

 _ **Theo asks who's making these decisions and wants to know where Scott and Stiles are. Realizing that Theo remembers Stiles convinces them to keep him above ground. Later at Scott's house, Theo explains that they can't get Stiles back. He says the Wild Hunt comes and the Wild Hunt goes. Liam says they're not going, they're staying in Beacon Hills and still taking people. Theo says that's not possible. He says they won't just stick around unless they're stuck.**_

"That's a frightening thought" Mason shivered.

 _ **Liam says Theo is going to help them but Theo says he doesn't know what to do. Hayden says he remembers Stiles so he clearly knows more than they do. Liam threatens him with the sword again. Theo realizes Scott wasn't part of the plan to bring him back. Scott returns home and is infuriated to see Theo. He says it's taking all his strength not to tear Theo in half. Malia enters and, eyes blazing, growls at Theo.**_

"She doesn't mind doing it though" Stiles said with a little bit of enthusiasm.

 _ **Melissa McCall**_ _ **examines Chris Argent's wounds. The lash mark is green and steams slightly. He says it's spreading. She wonders aloud how a whip could do this to him. Argent explains it was a Ghost Riders' whip. Melissa says the doctors at**_ _ **Beacon Hills Memorial Hospital**_ _ **believe they can cut away the damaged tissue and have scheduled surgery for him in an hour. Argent begins to get up. He explains that his wounds include a supernatural toxin, and if the doctors try to cut it out, it will spread. Melissa asks him to tell her what he needs. He says he can't go in the operating room because he won't come out alive. Melissa says they need to get him out of there. She places him in a wheelchair and takes him into the hall. Seeing a nurse at the main desk, she says loudly that the doctor wanted to do more tests and she's taking Argent away for that. Eventually, Melissa sets Argent up in a bed in what appears to be a laundry room in the hospital. She gives him intravenous drugs but admits it won't help him. He says he had an idea but it's asking a lot. He explains there are**_ _ **Nine Herbs**_ _ **that will counteract nine supernatural venoms. He says if they're combined in the wrong way, the power of the venom will increase. If Melissa screws up it will kill him.**_

"Great pep talk dad" Allison rolls her eyes.

 _ **She says he'll have to talk her through it. He says he only knows the names in Celtic. The first thing she needs to find is Mugwort.**_

"Stupid Celtic names. Who names a herb Mugwort!?" Allison groans. "The name sounds familiar" Melissa mused.

 _ **Melissa says Mugwort sounds familiar. Finally turning to her phone, she looks it up and finds that it's prescribed for anxiety.**_

"That was convenient" Allison blinks.

 _ **She finds most of the herbs on the list are used in modern drugs.**_

"Very convenient" Lydia agrees.

 _ **She says between raiding the hospital pharmacy, the homeopath downtown and a salad bar, she can find them all.**_

"Nice mom" Scott snorted.

 _ **As she heads out, he grabs her hand. He tries to tell her the one other ingredient she'll need but can only manage what sounds like "Mel." Later, as she mixes the various bits of the formula, Melissa tries to figure out what the final ingredient might be. She'd thought "Mel" was short for her name but it dawns on her that Argent doesn't use nicknames.**_

"Why would be use a nickname?" Scott looked at his mother who shrugged. "Don't ask me" she muttered.

 _ **She realizes he was trying to give her the ingredient name in Celtic, she looks it up on her phone and finds that "Mil" is the Irish word for honey which is a binding agent and natural anti-biotic. She mixes the ingredients with the honey and spreads the thick paste on the wounds. The injuries begin to smoke and Argent screams. She gives him a rag to bite down on. The wounds begin to vanish and his pain subsides.**_

"Oh thank God" Allison sighs in relief. "You're good" Chris said with a smile while Melissa returned his smile with a small blush.


	98. 6-7

_**Theo wakes up inside one of the cadaver drawers in the Beacon Hills Hospital Morgue. He batters the door until it opens. He seems confused as a voice from the hallway outside whispers his name. He heads toward the voice and finds his sister**_ _ **Tara Raeken**_ _ **on the ground crawling toward him.**_

"Anyone else get the whole ring girl vibe here? Just me? Ok" Mason said out loud then mumbled the last part to himself.

 _ **There is a gaping bloody hole in her chest where her heart was removed.**_

Theo winced. This was one of the choices he was beginning to regret right now.

 _ **She reaches into his chest and rips out his heart. He flashes back to when he let her die so that the**_ _ **Dread Doctors**_ _ **could take her heart and place it in his body to make him a chimera. He dies. Theo wakes up inside one of the cadaver drawers in the Beacon Hills Hospital Morgue. He batters the door until it opens. A voice calls his name. His sister catches him and rips out his heart. Theo relives this over and over again until finally he no longer runs from his sister and says she doesn't have to stop.**_

"You gave up" Stiles said a little wide eyed. Theo shrugged, "one person can only run for so long" he muttered. __

 _ **Malia sits on Theo's chest and pounds his face again and again. Theo says she doesn't have to stop, but once she flicks out her claws, Liam steps in and stops her. He and Scott pull her off. Scott assures her Theo is going back in the ground. Liam objects explaining that Theo could help them because he remembers Stiles and he knows about the**_ _ **Wild Hunt**_ _ **from his time with the Dread Doctors. Scott is unconvinced. Malia just wants to kill him. Liam points out that**_ _ **Noshiko Yukimura**_ _ **gave him the sword and Theo is his responsibility. Theo picks this tense moment to make a joke, "It's so awkward when mom and dad fight." They all yell for him to shut up.**_

"You really need to work on your delivery" Mason sighed. Stiles perked up at the last words and looked at Lydia who seemed to be humming to herself.

 _ **Hayden tries to back up Liam but Scott is adamant that Theo goes back to the**_ _ **Skinwalkers**_ _ **. Scott and Liam go to talk privately. Malia wants to kill Theo but Hayden blocks her. Theo admits there are mixed feelings about him but says he may be their only option to stop the Wild Hunt. Liam and Scott both agree they can't trust Theo. Liam says they can still use him. Scott reminds him that Theo tricked Liam into trying to kill Scott and then finished the job himself when Liam failed. He also points out that he killed the other chimera and his sister.**_

"All good points" Lydia said.

 _ **Liam argues that Theo might be their only chance to get Stiles back from the**_ _ **Ghost Riders**_ _ **. Liam admits that using Theo might be a mistake but points out that Scott also made mistakes when he was "learning to be an Alpha." Scott eventually acquiesces because he says they have to do whatever it takes to save Stiles.**_

"Just admit you lost the argument" Stiles snorts in amusement. Scott rolled his eyes but did not grace Stiles with any reply.

 _ **Liam holds the sword and threatens that he can put Theo "back in the ground" anytime. Theo counters that they also need a generator that can handle five billion joules of electricity in order to catch a Ghost Rider and Theo knows where to find one and can show them how it works. He says he'll help them if Malia promises not to kill him. Liam says she promises. Malia says she doesn't. She's not on board with the plan and decides to leave them to try an idea of her own.**_

"What!?" Malia growled seeing almost everyone groan. "Your plans usually involve trying to kill someone" Lydia said. "So?" Malia raised an eyebrow. "We don't do that" Stiles added with a sigh.

 _ **Noah Stilinski**_ _ **has removed the wallpaper and most of the drywall from a large area in the hallway of his home.**_

"Well good job dad" Stiles grinned. "Yeah, I just damaged my house. The cost to get that fixed" he sighed. "Gee good to know what has the higher value here" Stiles rolled his eyes.

 _ **The gaping hole exposes a wooden door. He opens it and sees an empty room beyond. The windows are boarded up and it is covered in dust.**_ _ **Claudia**_ _ **appears in the doorway. She urges her husband to come out of the room. He is confused but she says the previous owners probably closed up the room because "people do crazy things." The Sheriff suggests that this could be his forgotten son's room. He is surprised Claudia isn't more curious about the situation. She says there are several simple explanations for the room, that they had a son they forgot about is not one of those explanations. She says Noah is making himself crazy and says they should just "leave it alone." He says he can't.**_

"He can never when it concerns Stiles" Claudia said to herself with a soft smile.

 _ **Liam and Hayden lead Theo through the woods. Liam has the chimera's hands cuffed and attached to a chain leash.**_

"So I'm your bitch now?" Theo snorted. "Hey you said it not me" Liam shrugged.

 _ **Theo explains that he told them where the transformer was and how it works and believes he doesn't have to be there when it all blows up. Hayden is adamant that won't happen. She explains the plan again. Since the Ghost Riders ride lightning, they can use the transformer to catch one and hold it captive. Theo says it's a bad idea. Liam says the bad idea was bringing Theo back. He says he made a mistake but Hayden doesn't let him wallow in self-doubt. She says they took a risk but it was the right thing to do and that she believes him. They kiss. They hear thunder and Hayden says they better hurry. Scott, Mason, and Corey have constructed a metal cage inside what appears to be a stone cottage in the woods. Liam unchains Theo who turns on the large electrical transformer in the corner of the room. He says it can transmute the energy from multiple lightning strikes. Mason explains that whatever is inside the cage they built will be shielded from any outside electrical current so the Ghost Rider won't be able to use lightning to escape. Corey explains they put a lightning rod on the roof which will catch the bolt the riders on and funnel it a spot inside the room but not inside the cage since it "neutralizes electromagnetism." Once the rider arrives they'll need to get it inside the cage. Hayden volunteers to be bait. Once Hayden lures him inside the cage, Scott and Liam are to close the gates locking him in while Mason spreads a circle of**_ _ **Mountain Ash**_ _ **around the whole works. Corey will then return to the roof and remove the lightning rod while Mason and Hayden stay on the lookout for more Ghost Riders. Scott agrees that this is the best idea they have right now.**_

"With a lot of risks" Stiles pointed out.

 _ **Theo points out that everything will need to go perfectly or the Ghost Rider could escape and kill them all. Hayden points out that his transformer could catch fire. Mason, tongue in cheek, points out there could be a massive solar flare too.**_

"Such a nice group we have" Allison said sarcastically.

 _ **Mason uses some sort of device to test the transformer. It ramps up the joules and lightning flashes around the cage. They all seem pleased with the results.**_ __ _ **Melissa explains to Malia that her father has third-degree burns over 90 percent of his body. She says Malia should be saying her goodbyes. Malia says she doesn't need to say goodbye. She needs Melissa to fix him so they can find out what he knows about the**_ _ **Wild Hunt**_ _ **. Melissa reminds her that Peter is a ruthless con man who always has a devious plan to hurt everyone around him.**_

"Thanks for the description Mel" Peter rolled his eyes. "You're welcome" Melissa said with a smile.

 _ **She questions what Malia plans to do once Peter is back up and about. Malia says she has a plan. Peter is in a private room inside a sealed plastic tent designed to keep in an oxygen rich atmosphere to promote healing while at the same time reducing the chances of his burns becoming infected. Melissa says she's unsure if her efforts to heal Peter will work. Malia says he's dying anyway so what does he have to lose. Peter says he's not dead yet and can hear them discussing his fate. They breach the tent. Melissa explains that Malia asked her to treat him. He wants to know what's in it for him. Malia says it's simple, Melissa helps him then he helps her. Peter says it's too open-ended. He asks what happens if he doesn't agree and Melissa says she'll leave him for dead. Peter doubts Melissa, questioning what she knows about "our kind" of medicine. She whips out a syringe full of green gunk and says she knows about the "**_ _ **Nine Herbs**_ _ **" and stabs the syringe into his chest.**_

"You do not just stab someone like that!" Peter complained but got ignored by the rest.

 _ **Peter immediately begins to convulse and a greenish foam dribbles from his mouth. Malia questions if it's working and Melissa says it should be because it looks painful enough.**_

"Great doctor indeed" Chris snorted in humor.

 _ **Soon Peter's burned skin begins to fall away revealing fully healed skin underneath. Malia and Melissa support Peter as they make their way to the elevator. Once inside, Peter points out that he and the nurse never went on their second date. Melissa drops him on the floor of the elevator with a thud.**_

"Huh you just got dumped" Laura said out loud making Peter groan and many others snort at the pun.

 _ **Lydia is lying on her bed. Her mother joins her and asks if she is still thinking about how to prove the**_ _ **Riemann hypothesis**_ _ **. Lydia says she's thinking about a dead kid she just met. She explains about**_ _ **Lenore**_ _ **and how she managed to conjure up her dead son because she couldn't deal with the loss of everyone in Canaan. She speculates that the Sheriff may have accidentally conjured up Claudia to fill the void left by the loss of Stiles.**_ _ **Natalie Martin**_ _ **is skeptical saying she just saw Claudia. Lydia points out that so many things don't make sense. Claudia had a fatal disease but then she's fine. She says her Jeep was stolen 20 years ago, but it's Stiles' Jeep. Lydia says Claudia looked scared when she started peeling the wallpaper off the wall blocking Stiles' room. Like she was protecting a secret. Natalie speculates that, if it's true, maybe**_ _ **Sheriff Stilinski**_ _ **needs Claudia, maybe it's his way of coping. Lydia wonders if Claudia's presence is keeping Noah from remembering Stiles. Her mother warns that if Claudia isn't real, Lydia doesn't want to be the one to tell him.**_

"Yeah that could end badly" Stiles mumbled to himself. He knew first-hand what his dad had been like after his mom passed away and now if he was left completely alone. He did not want to think about that.

 _ **The plan seems to go well at first. Lightning strikes. The Ghost Rider appears and chases Hayden into the cage. She exits the back and Liam closes and locks the gate behind her. Scott moves in to shut the front gate but it sticks. Theo jumps in to help but gets his arm wedged in the opening. He urges Scott to force it closed anyway. Theo's bones break. Liam joins and pulls Theo away, and after a brief struggle with the rider, Scott closes and locks the gate. Mason runs through and completes the Mountain Ash circle. They apparently caught the Rider known as "The Outlaw". He reaches for his gun but Scott managed to grab it in their struggle. The Outlaw reaches his hand skyward and calls down lightning. It dances around the cage but doesn't reach him. He reaches both hands up and again electricity races around the cage.**_

"Oh shit it worked" Stiles gaped. "Yeah you're welcome" Liam and Mason rolled their eyes.

 _ **Lydia steps through the ragged hole into what was Stiles' room. The sheriff is incredulous that he didn't know about it in the 18 years they've lived in the house. He says the room is on the blueprints. Lydia begins to see the things that should be in the empty room. First, she sees Stiles bed in the corner near the window. She then sees the corkboard and "murder" board where Stiles displayed his work when they were figuring out a case. She sees his desk. Then Noah says her name and the room is empty once again. The sheriff says he doesn't understand how Lydia knew the room was there. He says he's open to discussing the possibility that he had a son. She closes the door.**_

"Be gentle" Stiles mumbled and patted Lydia's hand. "I'll let future me know that" Lydia rolled her eyes but held Stiles' hand.

 _ **Scott, Theo, and Liam decide to try to talk to their prisoner. Liam addresses him as "Mr. Ghost Rider" and then "Mr. Rider." He offers to let him out if the Rider tells them how to get their friends back. The Rider stands silent. Theo is gob smacked. He can't believe that this was their plan. Liam admits that they didn't have a plan for this part of the plan.**_

"Yeah Theo isn't the only one" Chris rubs his face.

 _ **Scott says they have him trapped and now just need to figure out how to communicate. He wonders if the Rider can even hear them. Liam speculates that he might speak an ancient language. Theo suggests he may only respond to pain. Liam thinks fear maybe but Theo says nothing could scare it. He calls it a "walking corpse." Liam realizes something is wrong. He wonders why the Rider stopped trying to escape. The Outlaw lifts his head and makes a gargling sound. Theo thinks he just called for backup. Liam recalls that when**_ _ **Corey**_ _ **made the Ghost Rider visible at the party, another one showed up. Scott says they need to figure out how to talk to him or get the hell out.**_

"It's always between those two isn't it" Stiles mused. "Yeah" Scott sighed.

 _ **Mason is watching the sky. Hayden arrives and asks about Corey. Mason points to a tree straight at Corey despite the fact the chimera is invisible. Mason says, "There's a refraction of light around your silhouette that I can always see. I don't know. It probably has something to do with pheromones or some other chemical interaction. It's my only power, finding you."**_

"That was kinda cute" Hayden muttered, throwing a smirk at a blushing Mason.

 _ **Hayden reports the woods are clear of Ghost Riders. Hayden gets a text from Liam who explains they can't get the rider captive to talk. This sparks a thought for Mason. He realizes that the Ghost Rider was trying to communicate with**_ _ **Jordan Parrish**_ _ **at the party. Mason says they need to find the Deputy. Still in Stiles' room, Lydia tells Noah about Lenore conjuring up her dead son. She explains that Lenore was trying to fill a void and her son manifested to do that. She says they could all the see the boy, he was real. Lydia explains that Lenore saw everyone disappear from Canaan but didn't want to believe it. Instead, she chose to believe in her son. It dawns on Noah that Lydia is trying to draw a parallel between Lenore's dead son and his wife. He doesn't believe her and become agitated at the thought that he made up a "phantom wife." Lydia says he's afraid to remember Stiles. He becomes angrier, insisting Claudia is flesh and blood. He says everything Lydia is saying is just speculation and conjecture based on a ghost town. Lydia notices Stiles' lacrosse jersey and helmet sits on a chair nearby. She reaches out, picks it up, and breathes in the scent of him.**_

Lydia blushed slightly.

 _ **The sheriff can't see it. He says she's deeply disturbed. Lydia says Noah is afraid to remember Stiles because he's afraid of what it means. He asks why Lydia cares so much that he remember Stiles. She says because he loved Stiles. Then, from his perspective, Lydia mimes throwing nothing, but suddenly a lacrosse jersey is flying toward him. Noah catches it. He stares at it confused and looks back to Lydia.**_

"Huh you did reach him" Peter mused.

 _ **Parrish arrives to visit the trapped Ghost Rider. At Liam's urging, he asks it how to get everyone back. The Rider gargles something at him that Parrish can apparently understand. He says The Outlaw said, "**_ _ **Hellhound**_ _ **." Parrish asks the Rider what it wants from them. It speaks and they all can understand. "We are the Wild Hunt. We hunt forever. Those who hunt with us hunt forever." Liam asks what that means and Parrish asks what the Rider wants. The Outlaw simply repeats himself. The Rider stares at Scott. Theo suggests he's figured out that Scott is the Alpha. Scott asks what it wants. The Rider says, "There is only the hunt. No one resists. No one escapes." Scott says if they can't be bargained with, they'll have to fight them. Scott steps to the Rider and says he won't stop coming for his friends and everyone else the Riders took. The Rider turns to Parrish and gargles at him. Suddenly Parrish is burning, transforming into the Hellhound. He burns through the Mountain Ash barrier and Scott realizes Parrish is going to free the Rider.**_

"Great he can control me" Parrish groaned. "The hounds do accompany on their hunt" Lydia mused, realizing or more like remembering the fact.

 _ **Malia drives Peter out to the woods to look for the rift where he came through when he escaped the Ghost Riders' phantom train station. Peter tries to talk her into running away but she is steadfast that they need to rescue Stiles. As they enter the**_ _ **Beacon Hills Preserve**_ _ **on foot, Peter says he doesn't know where he came through. Malia says she marked the spot but they couldn't see the actual rift. Peter says he doubts anyone could see it or get back through it. He points out that the human he watched try to escape got burned alive. He says humans can't get through it and if they try, Stiles will die too. Malia says they'll find another way to get him out but first they need to get inside. Considering her lack of self-preservation instinct, Peter wonders how Malia could be his daughter.**_

"Got that from my mother probably" Malia snapped at Peter who just blinked owlishly at her.

 _ **Peter says Malia's attachment to Stiles is unhealthy. She growls at him and he says she could at least try to act like a human. She says she needs Stiles for that because he's her anchor. Peter says they'll find her another anchor because Stiles is not coming back. She says he's being disingenuous since he is the one who worked so hard to bring Stiles keys through the rift. He claims he did it to save himself but she's not convinced. She says Peter was warning them about Stiles and Canaan and what might happen to Beacon Hills.**_

"Aww uncle Pete does care" Laura cooed. "Never use that name for me" Peter growled.

 _ **They arrive at the burned spot where Peter landed when he came through the rift. There is no rift visible. Peter says they can't just poke around and expect to find a supernatural train station. At that moment, they hear the Ghost Riders horses.**_

"You just had to jinx it didn't you" Malia groaned.

 _ **Scott and Liam try to stop Parrish from releasing the Ghost Rider. Theo tries to help, and Parrish's skin burns his hand. Parrish knocks him to the ground. Scott and Liam manage to push him back and outside. Theo restores the Mountain Ash barrier and notices Mr. Douglas standing in the doorway. The teacher speaks in a thick German accent and says he couldn't stay away. Theo threatens to tell who Douglas really is. He calls him Hauptmann. The Löwenmench stares at the rider and his eyes glow bright red. As two Riders approach, Peter urges Malia to run. She eventually agrees while he stays behind to face the Riders.**_

Talia smiled to herself. There might just be enough good in her brother.

 _ **Douglas' face deforms into a more monstrous appearance. Theo tries to run, but the Alpha stabs him in the back with his claws. He threatens to rip him in two and forces Theo to break the Mountain Ash barrier. Douglas enters the cage with the Rider and says, "It's been a long time." The Outlaw takes out his whip and flicks it at the Löwenmench but he catches it in midair and pulls the Rider to him. He then bites into his skull.**_

"He's gonna suck the gland out of the walking corpse isn't he" Allison muttered. "Probably" Hayden muttered looking slightly green.

 _ **The Riders in the woods reach Peter. He has his full Alpha face on ready to fight. The Riders seem to sense what is happening to The Outlaw. They scream and then turn around and ride away. Now away from the Rider, Parrish seems to regain control. He tells Scott and Liam not to follow him and runs away into the woods. Douglas digs around in the Rider's skull and removes an extra-large pineal gland. He bites into it. Scott, Hayden, Mason, and Liam return to the trap and find the Rider dead and Theo cowering in the corner. They think he killed the Rider. He explains it was Douglas and they soon realize he's telling the truth because the teacher ate the pineal gland and those murders have been going on for weeks. They also realize the Rider's whip is gone. Corey is walking through the woods alone. He's surprised to see Mr. Douglas and asks what the teacher is doing. The Alpha's eyes glow a pale and he says, "Something I have been waiting to do for a very long time." He cracks the whip at Corey catching him around the neck. When he pulls, Corey disappears in green smoke.**_

"He just stole a rider's power. He fucking stole a rider's power!" Stiles groaned.


	99. 6-8

_**In Nazi Germany in 1943, Hauptman tries to convince a group of fellow officers to help him capture the Wild Hunt. He believes the supernatural riders are just what the "**_ _ **Ahnenerbe**_ _ **" is looking for because an army of the dead cannot be broken like an army of the living.**_

"His actual name is Hauptman" Stiles blinked. "Germans have weird name" Mason shook his head. "I think the Germans might think the same about the US" Liam said to Hayden who snorted.

 _ **His book claims the "Ghost Riders of the Storm" are "masters of infinite power." Hauptman says the dead riders are in the**_ _ **Ruhr Valley**_ _ **. Feldmarschall Schulz mocks his plan to capture the "unstoppable army" and Hauptman slashes his throat with his claws.**_

"Nazi 101: If anyone mocks you, just slash their throats" Parrish snorted.

 _ **Sheriff Stilinski is in Stiles' room holding his lacrosse jersey. As he touches the empty bookcases, a ball of red yarn and a box of thumbtacks appears. When he picks them up, a corkboard appears on the wall behind him. Inspired, Noah pins some string to the cork board and stretches the string across the nearby wall. When he turns back, pictures and newspaper clippings have appeared on the corkboard. He repeats the process, running string to the various walls, attaching it to the floor, and across the room. As he does this, all of Stiles' possessions become visible including his bed, his murder board, his desk, clothes, and artwork.**_

"So my dad's way of remembering me is by completing the murder board" Stiles deadpanned. "You two bond the best when working on a case" Claudia smiled at both her boys who looked quite sheepish.

 _ **Finally, once everything is once again where it belongs, Noah notices a photo on the corkboard. Its Stiles and**_ _ **Claudia**_ _ **in a hospital. He takes the photo down from the board.**_ __

Claudia smiled sadly and hugged her son as tightly as she could from her position. The boy has gone through so much because of her illness.

 _ **Lydia, Scott, Malia, and**_ _ **Peter Hale**_ _ **are at the Sheriff's station. Scott says he plans to bite Stiles in order to allow him to pass through the rift.**_

"Okay no biting. I don't think my odds of surviving a bite is as great as you might think" Stiles said to Scott who seemed put off a little at his words.

 _ **Peter is incredulous. He asks if Scott plans to bite everyone in the train station.**_

"A whole town of were wolves as a pack. Sounds lovely" Laura muttered. "Yeah lovely" Derek rolled his eyes.

 _ **Scott says they just need to get Stiles back and then they'll figure out how to rescue the rest. Peter says they're the only ones left in Beacon Hills and should run away. Scott says he'll go into the rift. Liam and Hayden will stay behind with Mason because as long as someone is left in Beacon Hills the Wild Hunt can't move on to another town. Peter picks holes in the plan. What if Scott doesn't get taken? What if Stiles isn't there. What if there's no Beacon Hills to come back to? Peter says Scott has a flair for beating the odds "but this you don't walk away from, you run." Peter leaves them there.**_

"I mean he isn't wrong. But we have to do something. For everyone who got taken" Corey mused.

 _ **Melissa McCall**_ _ **and**_ _ **Chris Argent**_ _ **follow Parrish's tracks back to the stone cottage where the pack captured the rider. Melissa examines the body and finds its pineal gland is gone. She wonders aloud why someone would take a Ghost Rider's pineal gland and Garrett Douglas answers her. "So I could use this." He flicks the rider's whip and knocks the gun from Argent's hand.**_

"Fuck" Stiles summed up everyone's thoughts in a single word.

 _ **Garrett says he wants them to help him find a**_ _ **Hellhound**_ _ **. Argent realizes that Douglas was tracking Parrish but lost the scent. Douglas says he smells the hound on Argent. They refuse to help him. He grabs Argent by the throat and begins to crush. Melissa relents and agrees to help. Douglas releases his grip and Melissa and Argent embrace.**_

Allison hummed as a thought started to form in her head.

 _ **Mason and Hayden drive through the woods. They've found**_ _ **Corey**_ _ **'s phone. Mason says it's a "relic" meaning they know he's been erased. He flips through the pictures on the phone and realizes that they're all of him and Corey. Hayden says that's because Corey loves him.**_

"Awwwww" the girls coo in unison making Mason and Corey blush, stealing glances at each other.

 _ **Scott, Malia, and Lydia trek through the woods in search of the rift where Peter came out. Lydia says the rift could look like anything from a "microscopic black hole" to a "free-floating**_ _ **Einstein-Rosen Bridge**_ _ **". They start to split up but Scott immediately notices a pipe leading underground. The bars over the pipe entrance are bent outward and the ground is littered with dead leaves like those that herald the arrival of the riders. They decide the rift must be below ground. In the tunnels below the pipe, Lydia, Malia, and Scott are searching for the rift when Malia walks right into and is thrown backward. Lydia says it is remarkably similar to an Einstein-Rosen bridge.**_

"So using that portal is out of the question" Stiles muttered. "What is an Einstein-Rosen bridge?" Hayden asked. "Schwarzschild wormholes, also known as Einstein–Rosen bridges named after Albert Einstein and Nathan Rosen, are connections between areas of space that can be modeled as vacuum solutions to the Einstein field equations, and that are now understood to be intrinsic parts of the maximally extended version of the Schwarzschild metric describing an eternal black hole with no charge and no rotation" Lydia explained. "Basically it's a wormhole which you can use to travel dimensions" Stiles summarized seeing the others blink owlishly.

 _ **Hayden, Mason, and Liam are holed up at the Sheriff's station. Theo is locked in a cell. Liam says it doesn't matter where they hide, they need to find a way to fight the Ghost Riders. Hayden doesn't believe anyone can fight them but Theo says Garrett Douglas can. Hayden realizes that if Douglas knows how to fight them then he might know everything about them. Theo reminds them that he knows all about Mr. Douglas. Theo wants them to break the sword. He says he won't tell them about Douglas until Liam destroys the only means they have to send him back to hell. Theo says he doesn't want anyone's pack or powers. He just wants to stay alive. Thinking he might run if they let him out, Liam says they'll keep him locked up. He then releases the sword into its many pieces.**_

"Good idea?" Mason raised an eyebrow. "We gotta do what we gotta do man" Liam sighed.

 _ **Theo reveals that Douglas is a**_ _ **Löwenmensch**_ _ **. Mason says this means he is "part wolf, part lion."**_

"Oh great we are up against something that could be termed as the king of the jungle" Stiles groaned.

 _ **Theo explains that Douglas was part of the Ahnenerbe,**_ _ **Heinrich Himmler's**_ _ **"personal project to use the occult to win the war." In the woods of Germany, soldiers, tanks, and other vehicles assemble. They use Geiger counters to gauge changes in background radiation. Grenadier Abel says they should all flee. He then describes the coming of the Ghost Riders via storm and how they rode the horses. He says they were unnatural. Someone shouts and Douglas realizes they are close. He says Abel has done well and that "**_ _ **the Führer**_ _ **" will be pleased. Douglas approaches the rift and touches it. It sizzles under his hand. He turns to Abel and says thank you for volunteering. He then pulls his gun and forces the man through the rift. He passes through the barrier and nothing happens at first. Then, suddenly, he bursts into green flames and is burned to death.**_

"Cold hearted" Mason winced. "Well he is a Nazi and also after an army of the dead" Corey pointed out.

 _ **The Ghost Riders crash through the rift. The soldiers open fire but it has little effect. The rider leaps from his horse and fires, two-fisted. Soldiers disappear in flashes of green smoke. Another rider appears via lightning and begins taking out more men. Douglas stands his ground and growls at the rider who cracks his whip in the German's direction. Douglas runs but is caught across the back by the whip and infected by supernatural properties.**_

"If that didn't kill him, I wonder what it did" Scott mused.

 _ **Liam is less than impressed with the story saying Douglas didn't beat the Ghost Rider. Hayden says they broke the sword for nothing. Mason asks what happened to Douglas between 1943 and now. Theo explains that he kept looking for answers about the Wild Hunt. He found three scientists that he thought could help him. The Dread Doctors took Douglas and forced him into a giant tube. Theo says the bleeding from the whip lash "infected the water" and mixed with the fluid from the vat. The combination made Douglas stronger. He was soaking it in, absorbing the power for 70 years. Liam is stunned that Douglas came out of the tube with the power of an Alpha, a Löwenmensch, and a Ghost Rider. Hayden realizes this means Douglas can fight the riders and possibly stop them. They realize Douglas is still trying to form his own personal supernatural army.**_

"That. It did that to him" Allison pointed out with a tremble in her voice. "And now he is our problem" Lydia ran her fingers through her hair.

 _ **Argent and Melissa take Douglas back to his bunker to the crypt where they keep Parrish. Douglas calls him Höllenhund. While Douglas is distracted, Argent makes for a gun but the German hears him. Argent gets off several shots, knocking Douglas back but the werewolf is too strong and disarms Argent. He looks to Melissa and says, "I'm sorry" just before Douglas whips him out of existence.**_

"Dad! NO!" Allison screamed and tackled her dad into a crushing hug which he returned numbly, too shocked to himself get erased like that.

 _ **Melissa screams for Parrish and bangs on the case but the deputy does not respond. Douglas says Argent's efforts were brave but pointless. Melissa says, "Just crack the whip." He does and she disappears.**_

"Mom" Scott whispered brokenly, holding his mother's hand tightly. Melissa ignored the pain it was causing her and just hled her son's hand.

 _ **Douglas walks over to the chamber holding Parrish and shouts "Entstehen Höllenhund" or "Arise Hellhound." Parrish's eyes fly open. They glow the same pale green as Douglas'.**_

"And now he has the hellhound" Parrish growls and slams his fist on the arm of his seat.

 _ **A Ghost Rider shows up at the Sheriff's Station just as Mason, Liam, and Hayden are leaving. Mason is taken.**_

"Oh no no no" Corey muttered, instantly taking Mason's hand in his, as if he was going to disappear from the very room. Mason looked at their joined hands and just gave his hand a gentle squeeze.

 _ **Liam and Hayden try to fight off the Ghost Rider. They manage to hold it at bay, but as they begin to escape, it whips out and catches Hayden's arm. Liam tries to pull her free but another rider arrives in a bolt of lightning and lashes her other arm. She realizes she can't escape and tells Liam he has to run and warn Scott. She says he can save her on the other side. He says he loves her. She says, "Then go." She disappears as he escapes out the back of the station.**_

"Hayden.." Liam mumbled looking at the girl beside him. "You'll get me free. I know you will" Hayden said with a brave smile, trying very hard not to show her real emotions. Liam nodded and pulled her into a gentle hug which she leaned into.

 _ **Malia has a steel pipe that she's trying to push through the rift. The end glows a bright orange as it melts against the almost invisible barrier. Douglas shows up and says getting through doesn't have to be hard. Scott believes Douglas followed their scent but he says he followed their desperation. He claims they all want the same thing, to get inside, save everyone, and stop the "army of the dead." Scott and Malia are worried about the body count Douglas leaves behind, but he says all that matters is getting through the rift. They say the rift burns up everything that tries to pass through but he says not everything. Parrish steps out and growls. Douglas explains that the Hellhound can open the rift and they can all go together. Malia points out that Douglas is the bad guy and helping him is a bad idea. Douglas begins to question the concepts of good and bad and wonders when has anything been so black and white. Liam steps in and says "World War II." He goes on to explain that Douglas is a Nazi and wants the Wild Hunt as his own supernatural army. Scott says he's not letting Douglas through the rift. Douglas cracks his whip until they all get away from the rift.**_

"I'd make a whip joke right now but.." Stiles began, "this is not the time" Lydia finished for him.

 _ **He then calls on Parrish to open it. The Hellhound forces his way through the barrier then turns to keep the pack from following Douglas. As they disappear into the rift, Scott, Lydia, Malia, and Liam try to follow but the portal closes tight. Two riders appear in the tunnel. Scott sends Liam and Lydia to the bunker and he and Malia face down the riders. They quickly get a whip around Scott's neck but doesn't take him. He manages to escape and realizes that riders are trying to kill them. As they close in with their guns drawn, Peter runs through and fights them off. He tells the kids to run. The riders grab Peter from either side and fire a gun into him at point-blank range. He disappears in a puff of green smoke.**_

"Thanks for saving our hides" Scott said with a small smile. Peter just shrugged and kept quiet. But everyone noticed the small glance he threw Mali and the small smile on his lips.

 _ **Down the tunnel, Liam and Lydia run into another rider but it stops and holsters its gun when it sees her. She tells Liam to get behind her and they walk slowly out of the tunnel. Liam says it's afraid of her. She says she's afraid of her.**_

"You can see what they are" Talia blinked. "Must be a Banshee thing" Lydia shrugged.

 _ **Noah drags his wife through the house to Stiles' room. She protests. He tries to explain what happened to him earlier when everything reappeared in the room. He steps through and all of Stiles stuff is still there. He remembers Stiles is on the lacrosse team, that he's terrible but still on the team.**_

"Really dad? That's what you go for as the first thing?" Stiles rolled his eyes. "Well it is the truth isn't it" Noah said with a grin and Stiles rolled his eyes again all the while Claudia watched the exchange fondly.

 _ **Claudia stands outside in the hallway and says she doesn't see anything but an empty room. He says she has to step inside to see it, but when she does, the room is empty again. He realizes that Claudia isn't real. He admits he doesn't remember Claudia's birthday last year. He also doesn't remember what they did for their anniversary or Christmas for many years. Claudia says they went to Big Sur. He says they always wanted to go but never did. He explains about the picture he found and how it was of her and Stiles on her "last good day." He says Stiles refused to leave her side because he had his mom back.**_

Stiles' lips curled up slightly at the memory.

 _ **Claudia protests and says she was sick but started getting better, the medication had started to work. The Sheriff continues as if she hadn't spoken. He says Stiles talked incessantly all day long about everything, school and how much trouble he'd gotten into. He tried so hard to stay awake but fell asleep in her arms.**_

Stiles rubbed his eyes trying not outright break into tears on the spot. That was his best memory of his mother, just the two of them talking all day and then falling asleep in her warm embrace.

 _ **Claudia tries again. She says the doctors couldn't explain her recovery. She says they started making plans and dreaming again. She was herself says they just sat there, in the hospital room, and watched each other because they didn't need to talk. He says when she finally closed her eyes, he knew she was gone. When he looks up from the photograph, Claudia is gone and all Stiles' belongings are back in his room. Noah weeps openly. Suddenly, a bright light flashes behind him. He turns and looks into the glow.**_

This time, both the Stilinski boys broke into tears and hugged the Claudia as tightly as they could. Claudia just rubbed their back as she returned their hugs, enjoying the warmth of family love.

 _ **Sitting in his kitchen, Scott keeps dialing his mother's phone just to hear her message. Malia makes him stop explaining that his mom is gone but is still alive.**_

"You'll get me out" Melissa said giving Scott a kiss on the cheeks. "I know my son can do it" she grinned at Scott who smiled back weakly.

 _ **They discuss next moves. Malia points out that they can't hide. Liam says the rider was afraid of Lydia. She corrects him and says it was more like reverence towards her. Scott says it doesn't matter because the rift is gone and it was the only one left in Beacon Hills. The Sheriff comes in and announces that he has a son and his name is**_ _ **Mieczyslaw Stilinski**_ _ **.**_

"That is his name?" Allison looks up at Scott who nodded. "How do you pronounce that?" Mason whispered to Corey who shrugged.

 _ **He explains that they call him Stiles and that, as a child, Stiles had trouble saying his first name. The best he could do was "mischief," and that's what his mother called him as long as she was alive.**_

Claudia smiled a little and felt Stiles' embrace tighten.

 _ **He says he now remembers when Stiles first got the jeep. It belonged to his mother and she'd wanted him to have it. The first time he took a spin behind the wheel it went right into a ditch. Noah gave him his first roll of duct tape that day. He says he was always in trouble but he always had a good heart. He says they're all there tonight because his goofball son dragged Scott into the woods to see a dead body. He explains how Stiles' room came back and all the memories with it. Then he says he thought he saw Stiles. He says it's like something opened in the middle of the room for a moment and then was gone. They realize it was a rift. They realize that remembering is a way to open the rift. They have to remember everything.**_

"You have a way now" Allison looked up at Scott who now bore a face of absolute confidence.


	100. 6-9

_**Scott, Malia and Lydia seal up all the entrances into the Argent bunker. They still believe the Ghost Riders can get in and it will be up to the Sheriff and Liam to distract the riders long enough for them to remember Stiles and open a portal to the riders' limbo.**_

"Those two could end up erased! What the hell do you think you're planning!?" Stiles exclaimed at Scott. "We'll be fine" Liam said. "We have to get you back any way possible" Noah added. "Plus it won't be like we'll not have safety precautions for them. So let's watch what we do now" Scott said with a smile. Stiles leaned into his chair but did not look happy.

 _ **Lydia explains that the cold sarcophagus in the bunker will lower Scott's body temperature and his heart rate placing him in a hypnotic state for memory regression similar to the ice bath they gave**_ _ **Isaac**_ _ **to help him recover his memories of the**_ _ **Alpha Pack**_ _ **. If they can figure out how to work it, the device just might help Scott better remember Stiles.**_

"Risky" Stiles grounded out again.

 _ **Liam is trying to convince the Sheriff to let Theo help them distract the Ghost Riders. The Sheriff says he has a "station full of armed deputies" to help but he doesn't. The station is empty.**_

"There goes the backup" Noah rubbed his temples.

 _ **Noah calls on the radio in hopes of finding any of his men and women who might be left, but there is no answer. The sheriff is incredulous that the riders could have taken everyone. Everyone, that is, except Theo. Theo tries to talk the Sheriff into letting him out. The Sheriff says if Theo makes a wrong move he'll fill his head full of bullets. The sheriff retrieves the key card but hesitates. Theo becomes more and more desperate, making a grab for the card. Noah asks Theo to tell him one thing about Stiles before he'll let him out. Theo doesn't at first, he just grabs the bars. The sheriff turns to go, but Theo calls after him. He says Stiles was smart, smart enough not to trust Theo. The sheriff opens the cell.**_

"Yeah that would work" Noah mused to himself. If he ever were to forget Stiles and in the process of remembering him, he would always remember the thought process of his son first.

 _ **They hear the Ghost Riders. Theo and Liam estimate there are two horses, five riders. With three on five, they think their odds are pretty good. They open the door and more than a dozen riders are waiting. They open fire and take out the sheriff in a puff of green smoke. Liam and Theo make a run for it.**_

"No no no" Stiles groaned rubbing his face. Scott stiffens, clenching his hands into fists.

 _ **They make it out to the parking lot and jump into a patrol car. Liam has a box full of keys but they don't know which one is the right one. The riders are closing in and after trying several wrong key, Liam finds the right one. The car cranks and they run over a Ghost Rider.**_

"Yeah he would be not dead. Very pissed but not dead" Liam sighed.

 _ **They lock a shirtless Scott into the cold sarcophagus and turn it on. Lydia explains that they need to guide Scott and keep him focused. She says he should think about Stiles, what he looks like, things he said. Malia wants to get him out, fearing something is wrong, but Lydia stops her. Scott's eyes go red. In his mind he is climbing the stairs at his house. In the real world, he begins to lose consciousness. Lydia fears if he does, they'll lose him. Malia yells at him. In his mind, Scott is back in his house. It's the full moon during. Stiles has handcuffed Scott to the radiator in his room to keep him from hurting anyone. Stiles yells at Scott for kissing Lyida. Scott, in the past, tries to talk Stiles into letting him go. Suddenly flashes of memory pour into Scott's head. There's a snatch of dialogue, while they were breaking into the school, Stiles complained about being Robin to Scott's Batman. Other bits of conversations and flashes of images of Stiles bombard Scott. Lydia's voice tells him to try to find Stiles in his memories whether they be good or bad. Scott remembers the confrontation with Stiles at the Animal Clinic and when he went into the ice bath for the sacrifice.**_

"Quality memories" Theo grumbled.

 _ **Lydia and Malia realize Scott is lost amongst his memories, being buried under them. In his mind, Scott continues to flash through his life with Stiles, including the MRI scene. Liam decides to make for the hospital since he knows the layout of the building so well. He reiterates that they have to keep the Ghost Riders busy long enough for Scott and the others to remember-up a portal to Stiles.**_

"A memory portal? I hope to anyone up there that it works or my dad just got erased from existence for nothing" Stiles sighs and pulls at his hair. "So do I" Lydia, Scott, Malia, Liam all thought.

 _ **Once they arrive, Liam turns on the siren inside a parked ambulance. He's hoping the noise will bring all the Ghost Riders after them. Liam says they're going to get to all of them eventually unless Scott is successful. Theo says he's only with Liam as long as it helps him. He plans to run while the riders take Liam.**_

"Really inspires team work this one doesn't he" Mason muttered making Theo roll his eyes.

 _ **The hospital is deserted. Theo flashes back to his sister ripping out his heart. Theo snaps out of it and claims to be fine. He says he was in a bad dream. They take off to hide from the approaching Ghost Riders. Liam thinks the morgue is the right place to go. Because the riders go after the living, they should hide with the dead. Theo refuses to get into the cadaver cooler with a corpse. Liam agrees. Theo says they should have just left him in his cell. Liam says they should have left him in the ground. Theo wonders what Liam thinks he was doing down there, "just hanging out with my dead sister, having a good time catching up on childhood memories?"**_

"Ah good times" Liam said, pretending to be Theo. "Remember the time when you ripped my heart out? That was a fun day" Hayden sighed dreamily pretending to be his sister. Theo growled under his breath but said nothing else.

 _ **Liam says he thinks Theo was rotting down there. Theo says he's right and Liam says whatever happened to him, he deserved it. Liam declares he plans to use Theo for bait to save himself from the riders. The ambulance siren stops. Seven Ghost Riders enter the hospital through the emergency entrance.**_

"This one isn't a good inspiring party either" Theo rolled his eyes.

 _ **Malia and Lydia are worried that if the cold doesn't kill Scott, the memories he's experiencing will. Lydia says it's her first time trying to open a rift in space/time so she is kind of fumbling in the dark. This idea of fumbling in the dark gives her an idea. She attempts to guide Scott's memories into an easier to understand form like regular hypnosis. She tells him to imagine the school hallway with lockers. Each locker holds a memory of Stiles. Scott successfully gets the image in his mind. He opens a locker and remembers the night Stiles disappeared but somehow managed to call him on his cell. Scott calls out for Lydia saying he can't figure out what he's supposed to do. Lydia says he should just find another memory. Frost begins to creep up the window on the sarcophagus. Lydia says Scott is getting too cold. Malia has a thought, what if it's not just the memory but an emotional connection created from a memory that opened the portal for Stilinski? Lydia points out that Stilinski was remembering his son and the emotional attachment would be intense. Malia reminds Scott that he and Stiles were more than just friends.**_

"That sounds so wrong" Stiles joked weakly. Scott rolled his eyes but was glad that Stiles was still able to joke around even with everything that was going on.

 _ **She talks about Stiles plan to get an apartment with Scott after graduation. She apparently told Stiles that moving in with your best friend is a bad idea but Stiles told her that he and Scott were like brothers. Scott opens a locker and removes a lit road flare. He remembers when the**_ _ **Darach**_ _ **was messing with everyone's mind and Scott used a similar flare and a can of gasoline in a suicide attempt. Stiles talked him down, grabbed the flare himself and stepped into the spreading pool of gasoline saying he needed Scott and if he was going, Stiles would go with him.**_

"Good times" Stiles mumbled with a smile which Scott mimicked.

 _ **Scott's heart rate drops and fearing he might die, Lydia and Malia pull him from the cold sarcophagus. Scott is distressed because it didn't work, they failed to open a portal. Scott wants to go back into the cold but both Malia and Lydia refuse to let him. Malia says she'll go and strips off her shirt. Scott says she'll probably handle the cold better than him. Once inside, Lydia has her imagine the library. Each of the books represents her memories and she's looking for the section of memories about Stiles. She picks up a book called "An Exposition Workshop" and opens it. She remembers seeing Stiles inside**_ _ **Eichen House**_ _ **and then punching him hard.**_

"Great start this one had" Lydia giggled.

 _ **She drops the book. Another book releases the memory of Stiles trying to talk her down during a full moon. The image cuts to the shower scene.**_

"Okay no" Stiles looked away with a blush.

 _ **She pulls more books and random bits of dialogue come to her. She opens another and remembers when she lay dying and Stiles explained that he had to leave for a little while. She made him promise that he would come back. He says he'd never leave her behind. Scott and Lydia's voices intrude on the memory. They call out to her to open her eyes. Malia drops the book. Suddenly, ice is forming on her arm. It creeps up toward her chest. Her eyes flash blue. In the real world, Scott and Lydia see a subtle change in light but then alarms start sounding on the sarcophagus and they rush to free Malia. Lydia shuts down the ice box and says they can't save anyone by freezing them to death. Malia protests that it was working but Lydia says they only saw a light and heard a strange noise. Scott and Malia say they remember Stiles better now and he's more real now than he's ever been. Scott repeats that if they can bring Stiles back, they can bring everyone back. Lydia points out that there's a huge difference in being a vivid memory and an "actual corporeal human being." Scott says he believes Lydia is the key. He says when he was remembering Stiles, he was also remembering Lydia with Stiles. He says no one had a connection like they did.**_

Mentioned parties blushed a little at the words.

 _ **Malia agrees and says Lydia has to try. Since she wouldn't survive the sarcophagus they have to think of something else to help her remember. She settles on actual hypnosis. Ghost Riders know how to use elevators. They exit the car on the floor where Liam and Theo are hiding.**_

"Isn't it convenient how even undead monsters know how to use modern day machineries!" Mason groaned.

 _ **As one of them passes the morgue, Liam and Theo rush out pushing the autopsy table in front of them. They pin the rider against the door on the other side of the hall. They seem pleased with themselves until they realize there are half a dozen more riders coming down the hall toward them. The riders open fire and the boys flee.**_

"Well that was fun" Liam said sarcastically. "We should do it more often" Theo rolled his eyes.

 _ **Later, as Liam wrestles with a rider, Theo rushes in and pushes the cowboy into a closet. They jam a crutch under the door knob in an attempt to seal him inside. They're again, momentarily, pleased with themselves until they hear more Ghost Riders coming. Theo says they're everywhere and Liam thinks this is good. Theo reminds him that getting captured won't help save his friends. Liam says they're both going to get caught anyway. Theo can do it while he's running away if he wants, Liam chooses to go down fighting.**_

"No you need to get out!" Hayden exclaims with a glare at the screen.

 _ **The Ghost Riders line up at the end of the hallway. Liam growls, flashing eyes and fangs, and rushes toward them. Theo hesitates but quickly follows suit. Later, Theo is whipped by a rider. It knocks him down but he is otherwise unharmed. He grabs a bone saw from a pile of instruments on the floor. He drives it into the rider's throat. It falls and bleeds out on the floor. Another rider appears and begins to choke him. He can see Liam wrestling with another rider in the morgue. The rider drives Theo to his knees. Liam grabs at the other rider's gun and it goes off, shooting the rider attacking Theo and knocking him off. Liam then turns the gun back on his rider and fires. They're about to fist bump their triumph but notice more riders coming down the hall. Theo quickly shoves Liam into the elevator. He says he's going to be the bait and turns to face the riders alone as the doors close with Liam inside.**_

"That was…heroic" Stiles mumbled and looked at Theo who looked shocked himself.

 _ **Lydia explains that her mother used a hypnotist to quit smoking and had Lydia go to him when she was 10 to stop biting her nails.**_

"Wow Natalie a bit extreme maybe" Claudia chuckled.

 _ **Scott finds a candle and Malia lights it with a blow torch. Lydia has prepared an "induction script" and at first asks Malia to read it. She says she should keep her voice soft and slow, but not monotone. Malia does a terrible job so Lydia snatches the page and hands it to Scott. He reads, "Take a deep breath and look at the candle. Feel the muscles in your body begin to relax. Your hands relaxing. Your eyelids relaxing. As you relax, imagine you're sitting in front of a TV. When you turn the TV on, it's going to play memories from your life. The remote gives you total control. You can play any memory you like. All you have to do is hit the button." Lydia is in a classroom. There is a TV on a cart at the front of the class. She has a remote and pushes the button. On the screen, Stiles visits Lydia. She is high on drugs after seeing**_ _ **The Alpha Werewolf**_ _ **the night before outside the video store. Stiles comes to check on her and she asks "What the hell is a Stiles?"**_

"At least you know now that the most annoying thing in the universe is known as a Stiles" Scott joked earning him a pillow to the face from his best friend.

 _ **She clicks the remote and remembers the Winter Formal. She went as Stiles's date after**_ _ **Jackson**_ _ **dumped her. Stiles asks her to dance and she says no. He gets more forceful, which she appreciates, but still, she refuses.**_

"This time around" Lydia says looking at Stiles with a slight blush, "I'm saying yes" she smiled which made Stiles blush.

 _ **Scott continues reading, "Try to find a memory of Stiles. A memory where you felt a connection with him." She remembers more from the night of the formal, Stiles saying he's the only one who knows how smart she really is and how she corrected him when he said she'd win the Nobel Prize. Nobel doesn't have a mathematics prize, it's the Field's Medal. Scott tells her to find another memory, to keep looking for Stiles. Lydia continues pressing the remote and flipping through her memories. She stops and puts down the remote. She can still hear her memories. She rises from the desk and out into the hall. She hears the discussion that she and Stiles had during the search for the parents after they'd been taken by the Darach. Lydia tries to assure Stiles that there is still time to find his father and the others but Stiles is overwrought. He suffers a panic attack and Lydia kisses him to get him to hold his breath and calm the panic. In the here and now, Lydia says, "That's when it happened."**_

"One kiss huh" Allison mused to herself with a smirk.

 _ **Scott and Malia question what she meant by this but she remains lost in the memory. She sees Stiles wrapping red yarn around her finger. She sees herself with Stiles hiding from the**_ _ **Dread Doctors**_ _ **at Eichen House. Then she relives Stiles saving her from Eichen. Finally, she says, "When I kissed him, that's when it all changed." She remembers being in the Jeep with Stiles just before the riders took him. She seems crushed. She breaks down in tears as she remembers Stiles said, "I love you." She says, "I never said it back." The light in the room changes. Everything begins to shake. Lydia is drawn to the door, throws back the bolts and opens it. There is a bright white light in the tunnel. Wind rustles down the corridor and a shadow, the outline of a man, appears in the light. Lydia whispers, "Stiles?"**_

"You did it" Scott grinned. "We did it" Lydia said with a soft smile and rested her head on Stiles' shoulder.


	101. Author's Note 5

turns out I accidentally skipped episode 8 and posted episode 9. Gonna fix that one today. Thanks to 41 for letting me know ^_^


	102. 6-10

_**Liam pries his way out of the elevator at the hospital. The building is still deserted since the Ghost Riders took everyone. Suddenly, behind the nurses' station, a railway departures board appears in the hospital. The first city name flips with a click, click, click before settling on Beacon Hills.**_

"Is that supposed to happen?" Laura looked at her mother who was at a loss of words. "The two worlds are joining" Peter gaped. "This cannot be good" Derek growled.

 _ **Stiles stares at a similar board inside the train station. Suddenly, he can hear Lydia whispering his name. He calls out to her. A voice comes over the loud speaker announcing the train would be arriving in 25 minutes. All the other passengers rise and make toward the tunnel. Stiles is trying to get through but cannot. A gunshot cows the group.**_ _ **Noah Stilinski**_ _ **shouts, "Give the boy some room!"**_

"Finally" Noah breathed a sigh of relief.

 _ **Father and son rush to each other and embrace. "Oh, I found you. I can't believe I found you," says the Sheriff. Stiles explains that he can hear Lydia and that he thinks he can get to her. The sound of horses indicates the riders are returning. Noah tells his son to go and get help. He says they'll find each other again. He takes up a position to block the riders as Stiles jumps down to the tracks and runs toward the light. He again hears Lydia's voice calling to him, urging him to keep going. In the bunker, the light and shadow Lydia believed to be Stiles fades out. She doesn't understand. It was working, she could see him. Scott and Malia said they didn't see anything. Lydia insists that Stiles is here.**_

"So only the one with the strongest memory can see" Lydia muttered.

 _ **The headlights of Stiles' jeep flash on. It's still parked at the school and a hand appears and grips the steering wheel. Stiles rises up in the driver's seat. He seems surprised.**_

"Back from where I was taken!" Stiles laughed out loud. "You guys did it!" he grinned at his best friend who grinned back, Malia who smirked and then at Lydia who smiled bright enough to make his heart flutter.

 _ **Scott and Malia lead Lydia back into the bunker. Liam appears, informs Scott that everyone has been taken, and insists the Alpha come with him immediately. Scott tells the women to stay put in case it works and Stiles appears. Stiles heads to Scott's house first and then to the Sheriff's station looking for anyone. He finds the radio, still on and humming. Malia decides she's not staying in the bunker. She tells Lydia that Stiles won't come there and, since Lydia feels strongly that he's back, they should go look for him. They go looking. There are now train tracks running down the length of the hallway at**_ _ **Beacon Hills Memorial Hospital**_ _ **. Liam tells Scott that it's also happening at school, the lacrosse field, all over. Scott doesn't understand what's happening.**_ _ **Garrett Douglas**_ _ **appears and says, "It means that it's working."**_

"So they are the leylands?" Mason asked. "Yep" Peter pursed his lips.

 _ **Lydia and Malia find tire marks on the school parking lot. Malia decides they're from Stiles' jeep. Lydia points out that he doesn't have his keys but Malia says he often started it with just a screwdriver anyway.**_

"How many times did you lose your keys" Claudia looked at her son who smiled sheepishly. "Give or take a few times" he explained sheepishly.

 _ **Lydia wants to tell Scott. Malia notices the train tracks now extend from the entrance to the school across the parking lot. Douglas bares his teeth. Scott and Liam believe they can take him but Douglas calls out in German for the Hellhound and Parrish attacks from behind. They try to talk him down but Parrish advances. Douglas says, "There's no stopping the**_ _ **Wild Hunt**_ _ **. You'll make a fine Ghost Rider Scott, and I'll have a**_ _ **True Alpha**_ _ **by my side. And then a**_ _ **Banshee**_ _ **, a werecoyote …" Before he can finish his list, Stiles appears and cracks him over the head with a bat.**_

"Take that lion head" Stiles grinned.

 _ **Douglas is quickly back on his feet and Parrish is still bearing down on them. Scott picks up Parrish and throws him down the hall, knocking Douglas down again. Stiles runs to Scott and they embrace. Liam attempts to inform them that Douglas and Parrish are back on their feet but Stiles mistakes this for a request for a hug and interrupts with a strong embrace.**_

"Awwww" Mason chuckles and elbows his best friend who tried not attack. "Shut it. He missed me and I missed him. It's common among friends" Liam mumbled.

 _ **Parrish's body is engulfed in orange and green flames which he somehow projects down the hallway towards them. The boys run. Lydia and Malia follow the tracks to the school library. The interior is transformed into a version of the phantom train station. Dozens of people are sitting or just standing around in a trance-like state. The women work out that if there's a station, there's a train and everyone is going to be taken to the Wild Hunt. Malia attempts to yell at people to wake them from their trance. It doesn't work. Mason and Hayden have been running around inside the Wild Hunt phantom train station for a while. They've searched 57 similar rooms but can't find Corey. Hayden want's Mason to concentrate. At that moment, the voice comes over the loud speaker announcing that the train will be arriving in 19 minutes. Mason suddenly knows the voice is Corey's.**_

"I got appointed announcer?" Corey looked at the screen with a raised eyebrow. "Probably since you could have caused trouble, you were separated" Theo explained.

 _ **Stiles is looking for something in the abandoned hospital. He says he can't believe he's been gone a couple of days and the whole place falls apart. Stiles is concerned they won't let him graduate. Scott informs him he's been gone for three months. He finds a canister of liquid nitrogen just before Parrish catches up to them. He tells Scott and Liam to hold the deputy. They do and Stiles sprays him with the super-cooled liquid. The cold brings Parrish back to himself and he explains Douglas' plan. He wants to merge the Wild Hunt with the real world so he gets his super-powered army. They decide they need to stop the train but Parrish says they can't stop it but they can divert it.**_

"I like that idea better" Stiles nods furiously.

 _ **Stiles, Liam and Scott follow the tracks to the school. They discuss the difficulty of moving between the two worlds and question how it could be possible to merge them. This gives Liam an idea. He reminds them that Corey can exist in both worlds and bring people with him when he travels between them. He believes Douglas is merging the worlds using Corey's power. Stiles says since they can't get to him inside the hunt the only way to save everybody is to divert the train. Liam is adamant, he says they have to find Corey. Scott suggests Liam could get taken by the Ghost Riders. Stiles says that's not a pleasant option. Liam sees some glowing horseshoe tracks in the grass nearby. He says he doesn't have to get taken to get into the hunt. He takes off running without explaining his plan to the others. Scott and Stiles weigh their options, the tracks lead into the school or off into the woods. Scott asks if he wants to split up. Stiles says, "Never again."**_

"That's kind of cute you have to admit" Allison says to Scott. "Shut up" Stiles who overheard mumbled.

 _ **Liam spots one of the Riders' horses hanging out on the lawn of the school. He is about to jump down to get it when a Ghost Rider appears and grabs him. He fights but the rider is too strong. Suddenly Theo is there. His shirt is ripped to shreds and he looks bruised and batter but he takes on the Ghost Rider to give Liam a chance to get away and get the horse and ride away.**_

"You're a true wolf if you could fight all of them and live to tell the tale" Derek said making Theo smile slightly.

 _ **In the library, Lydia spots Peter and suggests Malia use emotion to get through to him. Malia hesitates but eventually puts some emotion behind her calls of "Dad!" Peter hears her, drops the newspaper he's staring at and stands up.**_

Peter closed his eyes and let the words repeat in his head. It was a very happy and calming thought.

 _ **Corey's voice comes again from the speakers in the Wild Hunt saying the train will be arriving in 17 minutes. Hayden questions if it's really Corey but Mason knows it's him, "I know his smile. I know his touch, and I know that that's his voice." The begin tracking the power lines leading to the speaker. They hear a horse coming down the tunnel and everyone panics. The horse arrives but its Liam riding it. He and Hayden embrace. She asks when he learned to ride a horse and he says, "Just now."**_

"Talk about learning fast" Stiles snorts.

 _ **Scott spots the railroad switch that can divert the train but stops well short of the lever suggesting that it's too easy to just walk up and switch the tracks. Stiles balks, he says it can be easy and they should, just once, do easy. He plunges ahead but just as he reaches for the switch, a whip wraps around his arm. He's jerked to the ground and, in a puff of green smoke, he's gone.**_

"Not again" Stiles groans.

 _ **Douglas wields the whip. He also has a Rider's pistol and fires it at Scott who also disappears. Stiles reappears on the floor of the girl's locker room at school.**_

"Huh since the worlds are merging, we just got sent to the school. Lucky break huh buddy?" Stiles looks at Scott who had held his breath but now relaxed and nodded.

 _ **In the library, Lydia and Malia bring Peter up to speed. Loudspeaker Corey says the train will be arriving in 12 minutes. Peter is hesitant to try to stop the people from boarding the train. He says it's impossible but Malia says they can try. A Ghost Rider appears in the tunnel. Scott reappears on the stairs in the school hallway. Stiles joins him and they speculate that the worlds are collapsing in on each other. Corey's voice comes over the school's PA system and says the train is now 11 minutes away. Scott says they need to get back to the "diverter" meaning the railroad switch in the woods. Scott reappears in the storage room off the chemistry classroom and hears the riders all around. Malia growls at the rider in the library. Lydia steps in front of her, knowing the rider won't attack her. Peter is not convinced and steps in to take on the rider instead. The rider whips Peter. He tries to fight back but his punches don't land, seeming to go right through the rider's body. Another rider appears and whips at Malia, catching her arm. She yells in pain. Peter hears this and, in concern for his daughter, turns his back on the rider he's fighting. He pushes Malia to relative safety and takes on both riders at once. He kicks out at the rider with the whip and, while his foot passes partially through its body, he manages to connect with something solid and knock the rider down. The cowboys are fully solid now and Peter takes them both on. They manage to get the best of him. He yells for Malia to run but she turns back and rushes to help him fight them.**_

"Like father like daughter" Talia muttered with a shake of her head and smile on her face.

 _ **Alone Lydia senses something in the hallway and rushes to investigate. Scott is attacked by two riders who shoot and whip at him. He manages to escape and makes it to the tracks. Corey's voice says the train will arrive in 9 minutes. Inside the phantom train station, Liam, Hayden, and Mason find Corey wired into the electronics in the radio room. He says the train will be arriving in 8 minutes.**_

"Oh God" Mason gasps in shock. "It won't happen this time" Liam lets the words roll out his tongue, "we will make sure of it" he looked at Mason and Corey with enough confidence to make the two believe his words.

 _ **Stiles reappears in the locker room cursing. He makes for the door but a rider is waiting. Stiles grabs his arm to keep it from firing its weapon. It fires a gun but misses. Stiles calls out for Scott but its Lydia's Banshee scream that answers him. She throws the rider across the room. Lydia catches her breath and says, "I didn't say it back." Stiles rushes to her saying, "You didn't have to." They kiss passionately and then remain in a tight embrace.**_

"Now that is romantic" Scott pointed out. Lydia and Stiles looked at each there and smiled shyly, a merry blush on both their faces.

 _ **Melissa McCall**_ _ **and**_ _ **Chris Argent**_ _ **are trapped in another part of the wild hunt train station. They've tried the doors but they're chained shut in this section. Melissa opines that they could use a werewolf to bust open the doors. Chris says he'd like to have one around for another reason; a ghost rider just appeared. It pins Argent up against a column but the hunter manages to grab its gun and shoots him. Another rider appears. He and Argent face off in a classic Hollywood version of an old west pistol duel. Argent gets off the first shot and the rider is down.**_

"This is so dramatic" Laura muttered taking a handful of popcorn which Derek was staring at in confusion. "Where did you get that?" he asked but got no reply.

 _ **Melissa rushes to Chris, spins him around, and kisses him passionately. He asks what the kiss was for and she says, "That was so hot." They kiss again.**_

"At least get a room you two" Scott and Allison groan. "You two seem oddly calm seeing this" Stiles pointed out. "Allison read the hints and hinted them to me so we were prepared" Scott explained. "And you're okay with this?" Melissa asked, not sure how she was feeling about this particular scene. "Well it is in the future and you deserve to be happy" Scott smiled at his mother who smiled slightly. Rafael for his part just watched. He may have still loved her, but he knew he ruined his chance a long time ago.

 _ **Scott makes it back to the railroad switch where Douglas is waiting. The teacher suggests Scott enjoys the pursuit of utterly futile endeavors. Scott threatens him to step back from the "diverter." Douglas is impressed and says Scott's has a "very German way of doing things" and adds, "you would have made an excellent Nazi youth."**_

"Oh God no" Scott groaned. "Hail Fuhrer" Stiles joked and then laughed at imagining Scott in Nazi uniforms.

 _ **Scott repeats his threat. The two flash fangs and growl at each other. Dozens of Ghost Riders appear and surround them.**_

"School fight!" Liam shouts then winces when he got punched in the gut my Hayden who hissed at him to stay quiet.

 _ **Inside the school, Stiles hears his mother's voice. Lydia explains that the Wild Hunt brought her back but that she isn't real.**_ _ **Claudia Stilinski**_ _ **steps out from the shadows but her face is now that of a Ghost Rider.**_

"Well hello nightmare fuel" Stiles muttered while Claudia rubbed his back with one hand, the other holding onto Noah's tightly.

 _ **Mason touches one of the wires embedded in Corey's skin. The young man grits his teeth to keep from crying out in pain. Mason says they need to get him out of the thing. Hayden says she'll pull the big one first. She says it will hurt but Corey will heal. Liam stops her. He says they can't unhook him until Scott diverts the train. He says if they stop the worlds from merging Scott won't be able to find the "diverter." Mason disagrees, pointing out how much pain his boyfriend is in, he says, "We need to do something." Corey says they have to leave him so they can save everyone. Douglas seems impressed that Scott continues to stand his ground in the face of insurmountable odds. He says it's either suicide or stupidity. Scott says it may be both but either way he's getting to the "diverter." Douglas mocks him for being a lone wolf but Theo's voice rings out in the wilderness. "He's not alone. He's got a pack." Malia and Peter join him. Its werewolves, werecoyote, and chimera versus a ton of Ghost Riders and one Nazi Löwenmensch. Scott's makeshift pack dodges bullets and whips and manages to get in some good punches and kicks but they're no match for the Wild Hunt.**_

"On the bright side, you have some seriously strong pack members now" Laura pointed out. "He does" Derek nods while Peter just pulled a face.

 _ **The fake Claudia says Stiles managed to "worm" his way back into Noah's memory even while trapped in the Wild Hunt. He says "worming" is one of his skills. Lydia explains that "that thing" is conjured from his dad's pain. If Noah remembers Stiles, he can't believe in Claudia. The creature says that's why Stiles has to go. She moves to attack. Lydia starts to scream but it grabs her throat and squeezes, rendering her speechless. Stiles rushes to help but it then grabs him by the throat and scolds him not to treat his mother that way. He manages to say, "You're not my mother," as she squeezes his windpipe. Lydia is still gasping, unable to scream. Stiles is thrown up against the wall and held there by his throat.**_

"Stiles I'm..", "it's not you" Stiles interrupted his mother, "I know you would never do that" he smiled at her, making her smile in return.

 _ **The fight in the woods continues with Scott and Douglas squaring off with each other. They seem evenly matched with both taking the upper hand at different times. Scott rushes toward the railroad switch. Douglas blocks him but Scott knocks him down. They hear the train whistle, it's close. More riders approach, firing their weapons as they come. Malia rushes into their midst. The light from the train is growing closer. She manages to grab a whip from one of the riders and tosses it to Scott. Douglas realizes what's happening but can't react fast enough as Scott cracks the whip toward the switch, catches it and pulls it back. The train tracks slide over to connect with the set of tracks heading away from Beacon Hills.**_

"I'm amazed you were able to use the whip" Peter mumbled. "Adrenaline?" Scott shrugged lamely. "More like true Alpha ability?" Stiles asked. "We can never know" Talia sighed.

 _ **The train barrels by. Its horn blares as it heads out of sight. Scott lets out a loud and prolonged growl. Liam hears him inside hunt and knows it's time to disconnect Corey who tells Mason it's okay because he'll heal. They begin pulling out the wires and other connections. All over town, people begin disappearing as the world's separate once more. At school, Stiles is still being choked. The thing that wears his mother's face says, "He believes in me. Dreams, so hard to kill." Noah appears with a gun and says, "But not impossible." He fires but the bullet passes through her. Lydia joins the sheriff, in a strained, scratchy voice she says, "Fire again." He takes aim and she screams and this time when he fires, the bullet strikes right where its heart should be and the creature flies backward away from Stiles. The building begins to shake and suddenly they hear Ghost Riders and horses all around them. The riders in the woods surround Scott and the rest. The sky flashes with lightning and the thunder rolls. Suddenly, the riders holster their weapons and begin walking away. Douglas yells after them. In German, he commands them to return. He says he's their master. The eventually do turn around and surround him. Peter points out that riders don't bow because they have no leader. Douglas raises his hands and discovers he's wearing gloves like the riders. His face goes all wooden, his eyes turn black and cavernous. He is now a Ghost Rider. The only difference between him and the rest is a red armband with the swastika of the Nazi Party. Then, in a flash of green lightning, all the riders disappear. The sky above rapidly clears. The stars become visible.**_

"That was so cool" Liam muttered in awe. "I know right" Hayden muttered from right beside him.

 _ **Parrish finds himself back in the Sheriff's Station. He seems confused about how he got there. Everyone around him is acting normally as if nothing at all happened. Noah comes out of his office, also surprised to see everything back to the way it was before. He and the deputy share a look that seems to say, "Well okay then. That's over and we're still here." Chris, Melissa and Mason wheel Corey on a gurney through the hospital. It too is back to normal. They stop to stare at all the seemingly clueless doctors, nurses, and patients who were, just moments before, heading toward oblivion. Melissa urges them on. They get Corey settled in a room. Chris assures Mason that Melissa knows what she's doing. She asks if Mason's ever heard of the "**_ _ **Nine Herbs**_ _ **." He says, "The nine sacred herbs of the Saxons used to cure poison and infections. Yeah, of course. Did you need to know what they are?" Melissa says she's got it.**_

"Nerd" Liam coughed out earning him a punch on the arm from a scowling Mason.

 _ **In school, it's the last day before summer break. Stiles is disappointed, he missed a full three months of his senior year and says it feels so anticlimactic. Lydia points out they still have graduation. Malia says she has to go to Summer School before she can graduate. They exit but Stiles stays behind. Someone turns off the classroom lights. He reluctantly follows his friends out.**_

"It's always hard to say goodbye" Noah smiled sadly, remembering his own last days of high school.

 _ **At the lockers, Scott says it's hard to believe they're no longer in high school and that it feels like nothing's really changed. Stiles shares a look with Lydia and says, "Everything's changed."**_

"For you two" Scott chuckled making Stiles throw pillow at him which he ducked out of the way this time.

 _ **Outside moments later, Stiles makes a big deal of passing the torch to Liam and Mason. He calls Liam the "new Alpha" but Liam corrects him and says he's not an Alpha and would have to kill one to become one. Stiles clarifies and says Liam is "taking over" because he and Scott are going to college. He tells Liam that Mason will always be there to save his ass. He gives Mason his aluminum baseball bat. The younger boys leave. Scott and Stiles discuss their plans for college. Scott got into UC Davis while Stiles will be attending George Washington University in Washington D. C. in the fall. Scott's dad pulled some strings to help Stiles get into the Pre-FBI program at the school.**_

"Go Stiles" Noah and Claudia cheered. "Guys" Stiles groaned with a blush.

 _ **He says Lydia is going to drive him down and help him move into his dorm before she heads to MIT in Cambridge, Massachusetts. She'll be an incoming junior apparently.**_

"Congratulations" Stiles says with a smile and kisses Lydia on the cheek making her smile and blush slightly.

 _ **He gives Scott the keys to his Jeep as well as several others on a ring. Those other keys are apparently copies that Stiles had made on the sly. They open several important locations in Beacon Hills including the school, Scott's house, animal clinic, and the Sheriff's Station. Scott protests taking the Jeep but Stiles insists. Stiles watches some of his former classmates as they exit the school. He says they still need us. Scott agrees, saying they'll always need us. Stiles say he needs Scott and his friend reciprocates. He seems on the edge of tears. Stiles breaks the tension by joking that he needs Scott to drive because he lost his license inside the Wild Hunt. Scott points out that Stiles' dad is the Sheriff so he can get away with driving without a license. He insists that Stiles drive. As they get into the Jeep, the scanner comes to life and we hear the Sheriff talking to a deputy who reports that there is a dead body had been found in the woods. Stiles turns off the scanner. The friends look at each other as if to say, "should we?" The Jeep speeds out of the parking space, out of the school lot, down the street and into the woods.**_

"Oh right in the feels" Stiles smiled widely, holding his hands over his heart. "Like how it began" Scott agreed. They all begin to get up, thinking on how to say their goodbyes when the screen fizzled to life suddenly. "Not over yet? Oh come one" most of them groaned, the wild hunt was a nightmare and they were not prepared for something more after that.


	103. 6-11

_**Assistant Coach Scott McCall preps the Lacrosse field for a nighttime pre-season practice. He calls out several players with praise as they run plays on the wet field. He specifically mentions Diaz and**_ _ **Nolan**_ _ **.**_

"Assistant coach! Way to go man" Stiles grinned at Scott who smiled back.

 _ **Coach Bobby Finstock**_ _ **berates Scott for heaping praise on the players and giving them hope. He points out that he never once gave Scott hope during the entire time he was on the team.**_

"And we are so grateful for that" Stiles mumbled sarcastically.

 _ **Scott agrees that he never did and Coach suggests that nothing motivates more than withering criticism. Liam is not on the field yet. Scott promises Liam will be there saying he is the "backbone" of the team. He describes Liam as a born leader who can handle anything Coach throws at him.**_

"Someone's a coach's favorite" Mason coughed making Liam's eyebrow twitch in annoyance.

 _ **Liam meanwhile is lying prone on a bench in the locker room lamenting the fact that**_ _ **Hayden**_ _ **has left town. Mason explains that she left town to protect her sister from the supernatural.**_

"So much for a backbone" Theo snorted. "Shut it" Hayden growled, rubbing Liam's back for no reason at all.

 _ **A text comes in from Scott saying Coach is pitching a fit that Liam isn't at practice. Liam says Scott is going to leave him too. Mason points out that Scott is going to college, it's not the same thing as leaving. He says they are all growing up and will soon go off to different colleges too. Corey is confused and says he and Mason are both applying to UCLA. This fact sends Liam into another fit of pique. Mason and Corey grab Liam by the arms and drag him from the locker room. Mason says summer is almost over, they're about to be seniors, and it will be the best year of their lives.**_

"Nice work Mason, you just jinxed it for everyone" Laura groaned.

 _ **Coach has had it. He says if Scott doesn't get Liam on the field in "three," it'll be Scott's last day as Assistant Coach. Scott points out it is already his last day. Coach threatens to dock his pay. Scott says he's a volunteer. He asks if Coach wants to take away his whistle. Coach wants to know who gave him a whistle.**_

"Oh this is gold" Stiles guffaws followed shortly by laughs from Lydia and Allison.

 _ **Scott texts Mason again and says Coach is threatening to make Diaz team captain. On the field, Diaz dodges all other players as he weaves his way down the field. The goalie is terrified as it seems nothing can stop number 88 from scoring a goal. Diaz flings the ball toward the goal. Out of nowhere, Liam does a twisty backflip onto the field and blocks the shot.**_

"Go team captain!" Mason and Corey cheered.

 _ **Coach is impressed, heaps praise on the play, and asks Scott, the name of the player. Scott is confused; he explains its Liam. Coach brushes off his lapse in memory, saying he can't possibly know who's who on the field since they're all dressed the same. Scott says they're wearing numbers.**_

"Oh Bobby" Claudia shook her head while the kids laughed their heads off. Even Derek and Theo had found a smile on their faces.

 _ **Liam is running down the field full speed when Diaz ducks under him and flips him to the ground. Liam begins to lose control. His eyes flash yellow, and he lets out a guttural growl. Scott rushes to his side. Everyone is watching them until something else catches their attention. A gray wolf has wandered onto the field. Its fur is matted with blood. It growls at Scott.**_

"A wolf in Beacon Hills? It's been more than 70 years" Talia muttered, eye narrowing.

 _ **He urges the players to step back, Nolan doesn't move until Scott makes him. The wolf wanders off into the woods. Liam and Scott follow. They find the wolf lying dead on the ground. What appears to be spiders pour from its eyes and mouth. A little further into the woods, dozens of other dead wolves lay dead.**_

"It had to be spiders" Lydia groaned and shivered. "Spiders? Really?" Stiles raised an eyebrow. "Have you seen one crawl around? That shit is creepy" Lydia mumbled, clearly disturbed by the image. "You guys seem to be ignoring the fact that a huge pack of wolves were found dead" Scott points out.

 _ **Malia**_ _ **lays on Lydia's bed reading a book about France. Lydia has apparently just told her of Scott and Liam's discovery in the woods. Malia wants to know if these were wolves or werewolves. Lydia explains they were the former and Malia says she's not interested. Lydia says Liam asked for help from the**_ _ **werecoyote**_ _ **not the**_ _ **banshee**_ _ **because no one understands mysterious animal situations better. Malia says she's done with mysterious animal situations. She now wants mysterious French men.**_

"Frenchmen huh?" Peter looked at his daughter with a smirk, which instantly was replaced by a pained look from being punched in the guts. "Shut up" Malia muttered.

 _ **Lydia**_ _ **says her flight is delayed anyway so she has time to help. Malia protests, saying the flight is not delayed, only rerouted. Lydia points out those are synonymous. A severe weather alert pops up on the laptop on the bed. There's a storm shutting down on Charles de Gaulle Airport near Paris. Malia protests it's just a minor shower. Lydia gives her a look that says, "You need to go." Malia continues to protest saying Liam has everything covered and dead wolves in the woods doesn't sound supernatural.**_

"Tell her about the spider vomit and it would be damn supernatural" Lydia shivered again.

 _ **As Scott is trying to close his overstuffed suitcase, Liam is trying to convince him that whatever happened to the wolves is definitely supernatural. Scott points out it could have been a parasitic infection. He explains bot flies can burrow into animals and people. The bugs lay eggs inside the host body, which hatch and burst out of the skin.**_

"But these were spiders. Spider's don't usually do this now do they?" Liam pointed out. "There could be some species I'm not sure" Scott muttered in thought.

 _ **Scott wants to address Liam's loss of control on the lacrosse field. Scott says he must remember his mantra and makes Liam say it aloud. "What three things cannot long be hidden? The Sun, the Moon, the truth." Scott can hear Liam's heart rate slow as he focuses on the words and anchors himself. Calmer now, Liam glances back at the impossible-to-close suitcase and asks Scott if he has a second one. Scott says no, but he has duct tape.**_

"Ah trusty duct tape" Noah chuckled. "It's the best" Stiles said jokingly.

 _ **While they banter, it is clear the young man does not want his Alpha to leave him. An orderly follows Doctor**_ _ **Conrad Fenris**_ _ **, through the special ward at**_ _ **Eichen House**_ _ **. Fenris says what the orderly claims to have seen is impossible. He says the patient in question has been in residence ever since the facility opened in 1912.**_

"And the patient is still alive!?" Allison gasped. "Supernatural creatures have a longer lifespan than most" Peter pointed out for her.

 _ **He opens the door, and a cold mist pours out. There is a layer of ice on the floor. On a table in the center of the room is what appears to be humanoid form made of rock. Fenris says the patient is covered in a layer of pyroclastic rock, primarily volcanic material, ash mostly, spewed from the ground into the air.**_

"That statue is the patient?" Stiles raised an eyebrow. "There are many legends regarding that particular thing" Talia said calmly, eyeing the statue closely.

 _ **Fenris reaches out and taps the form, and the rock layer immediately begins to crack. The damage spreads. The doctor and orderly back up. Fenris reaches to lower the temperature in the room some more, but he is caught in the blast as the cracking form explodes outward in a rush of fire and gas. What appears to be a Hellhound steps out of the cell and growls at Fenris.**_

"Great another one" Parrish groans. "Hey at least our hound can kick this hound's ass" Laura grinned. "I don't think it'll be that easy" Talia muttered. "Gee nice support mom" Laura rolled her eyes.

 _ **Rising Beacon Hills High seniors are lined up in the hallway waiting for a meeting with recently hired guidance counselor**_ _ **Tamora Monroe**_ _ **. She talks Liam out of taking Latin after he admits he's only signing up because he heard it was an easy A. He needs better grades because it's been a hard year and his GPA sucks. She offers him counseling to talk about Hayden but only during the posted "guidance hours." She turns the conversation back to his class schedule and suggests he take Spanish instead.**_

"How does she know about me?" Hayden narrowed her eyes. "Must have done a full back ground check on every student" Mason shrugged.

 _ **Corey**_ _ **wants to take AP Calculus. In a conversation laden with double meanings, Monroe talks him out of taking hard classes just to avoid feeling metaphorically "invisible." Corey protests that he's never invisible and that she can see him because he's right there. Monroe says she's seen many things at the school, even when everyone else had their eyes closed. She suggests he take creative writing instead.**_

"I don't like her, I don't trust her" Corey said immediately. "Yeah me too. She knows way more than she is letting on" Liam muttered.

 _ **She describes Mason's proposed class schedule as perfect and says he's given it a lot of thought. She probes further asking him to come and talk to her and share his thoughts. She says she knows students at the school have seen and been through things that don't exactly come with easy explanations. He tries to leave, but she presses him to come and talk to her, promising confidentiality for anything he shares. Mason says he's good and exits.**_

"Yup. Creeper alert" Mason muttered.

 _ **Nolan is next. He's a nervous kid. Monroe says she thinks he needs to talk about more than his class schedule. He protests, saying other students are waiting for her time. She asks if the wolf on the lacrosse field has him upset or the other stuff they spoke about over the summer, what happened in the library, the animal attack. Nolan snaps at her that it wasn't an animal attack. He says the animal on the field was "some kind of wolf." She asks, "What other kinds of wolves are there Nolan? What kind of wolves have you seen?"**_

"Oh she knows about the world" Allison muttered. "And she isn't exactly giving off a good vibe about it" Chris muttered.

 _ **Liam and**_ _ **Mason**_ _ **hit the library to find North American Cryptozoology, a book with an entire chapter on spiders and a section on scarabs. Unfortunately for them, the entire Mythology and Superstitions section is empty. Every book is missing.**_

"Now who took all those books!?" Stiles blinked in surprise. "Probably the new counselor" Lydia muttered.

 _ **Sydney**_ _ **screams from her perch on top of her desk in one of the classrooms. Dozens of rats scurry across the floor. They're coming from one of the ventilation ducts on the wall. Sydney laments, "Why does this keep happening to our school?"**_

"We ask the same thing every day Sydney" Scott mumbled and shook his head.

 _ **A man, apparently the**_ _ **hellhound**_ _ **we saw earlier at Eichen, is standing in the doorway watching. He closes his eyes and listens, focusing on each student in turn. Nothing apparently catches his interest, and he leaves. Mason and**_ _ **Liam**_ _ **come rushing into the classroom. Mason says they'll need a book on rats too. Later in an underground tunnel, Mason explains that the vent in the classroom eventually leads into the tunnels. He believes that's where the rats originated. As they walk through a viscous goo covering the base of the tunnel, Mason explains the evolutionary advantage to humans' innate fear of spiders, snakes, and rats. They find a large star-shaped pile of dead and mutilated rats. Mason calls it a "Rat King" which is a real-world phenomenon.**_

"The rat's trying to summon the devil or something here?" Stiles mumbled looking grossed out.

 _ **Natalie Martin**_ _ **is moving into her new office as principal of BHHS.**_

"Yay mom" Lydia smiled brightly.

 _ **Lydia left her a list of all the supernatural people in Beacon Hills, starting with the students. Natalie says she doesn't need it. Lydia says her mom knows stuff, which obligates her to do stuff when things go bad. Natalie says her obligation is to educate and not to eliminate all the problems of Beacon Hills. Lydia presses her further, but her mom puts a stop to it. She says she cares about Lydia's friends, but mostly she cares about Lydia. With Lydia "safe" 3000 miles away at school, she no longer has to "deal with this." Natalie exits saying it's not their problem anymore.**_

"Everyone is all about jinxing it" Laura groans.

 _ **Lydia slips the list of supernaturals into a desk drawer. Scott has one of**_ _ **Chris Argent**_ _ **'s 800,000-volt "light saber" stun batons. He tries to get his mom to practice defending herself with it, but**_ _ **Melissa McCall**_ _ **refuses to hold down the button. She says if something happens, she'll call Liam. If he's not around, she explains that she's a nurse, and she'll defend herself with what she knows. She reveals a cache of herbs she keeps in the hospital morgue and says if something supernatural happens and people get hurt, she's got it covered. Scott wonders where she got it all. Melissa changes the subject and says Scott should be focusing on orientation at UC Davis and his classes instead.**_

"Great change of topic mom" Scott rolls his eyes.

 _ **They hug, and Melissa accidentally holds down the button on the stun baton, shocking Scott.**_

"Sorry" Melissa said sheepishly while Scott just laughed it off. "It was kinda funny" he added with a smile.

 _ **Malia joins Mason and Liam in the tunnels. She examines the Rat King for a second and explains it perfectly. "Rats freaked out, crawled all over each other, got their tails knotted up, tore each other apart trying to break free." Mason is impressed, asking if Malia read up on Rat Kings. "What's a Rat King?" is her reply.**_

"Of course" Mason snorted.

 _ **She picks up one of the bloody and mutilated rats, holding it to her nose. She shoves it toward Liam who flinches backward. Mason scurries to another part of the tunnel. She urges Liam to smell the fear coming off the dead rat. Liam says the ones in the Math classroom smelled the same. Malia is confused by this revelation of rats in a classroom, but that doesn't keep her from ditching them so she can head off to Paris. She says it probably is a real problem, but they've got it covered, and she's got a plane to catch. An unconscious deputy lays on the floor at the Sheriff's station. The hellhound from Eichen sits at the radio dispatch desk listening.**_ _ **Jordan Parrish**_ _ **radios for Highway Patrol after a large, ten-plus-vehicle pileup with multiple injuries. Hearing this, the hellhound rises and exits the station.**_

"Well at least you have a good backup" Stiles said. "Right. Backup" Parrish ran his fingers through his hair.

 _ **He arrives at Beacon Hills Memorial Hospital in the midst of chaos. Multiple patients are coming in as doctors and nurses rush back and forth attempting triage. The hellhound walks purposefully down the hallway right past Melissa McCall who calls after him. He doesn't stop, and Melissa is quickly drawn away by two road-raging men arguing over who caused the accident. She tells them to separate, or they'll be last to get treated. Deputy Parrish arrives and reinforces her order, telling the men to step away. She asks him to stay and keep an eye on the argument-prone drivers, but Parrish spots the hellhound and follows him instead. Liam and Mason arrive with a white plastic bag. Melissa mistakes this for dinner. It's not. It's one of the dead rats.**_

"I think you can still eat that. I mean Sirius did it" Mason pointed out. "Sirius is a fictional character" Stiles groaned.

 _ **Liam wants her to take a look at it, but she says she doesn't have time for a rat autopsy. She orders them out of the hospital. While Parrish is looking for the hellhound, he has a vision of the hospital corridor in flames and the hellhound toward him. He closes his eyes and the vision clears. The hallway is filled with patients and doctors. The hellhound secrets himself in an office with the door ajar. He again seems to be listening for something. He can hear the heartbeats and voices of all the patients.**_

"Common thing for a werewolf or anything alike" Peter noded.

 _ **The two accident bullies begin to fight again. Melissa calls for security. Liam steps in between the pair just as one of them throws a punch. He lands a solid hit on Liam. It triggers his transformation. Everyone sees his eyes flash and his fangs. He digs his claws into the palms of his hands, drawing blood. Security arrives and grabs the aggressors. Liam is helpless to regain control. He starts running away.**_

"Oh shit" Liam swore. "They saw you" Hayden pointed out. "They saw a boy get punched and then grow fangs" Mason sighed.

 _ **He passes the door where the hellhound is still listening. Something about Liam's heartbeat draws his interest and he follows him. The hellhound bares his fangs and rushes toward Liam, but the young man is too concerned with his own situation to notice. He whispers his mantra - Sun, Moon, truth - and makes it into the elevator, which closes before the hellhound can get to him.**_

"Narrow escape" Liam sighed. "Always be aware of your surroundings Liam!" Scott barked out in a very Alpha manner making Liam nod.

 _ **Lydia arrives at Scott's house with suitcases. She calls to him, but there is no reply. Suddenly the light in the room begins to shift with a spider web pattern appearing on the walls. Lydia is having a vision. She hears something crawling. The phone rings. She picks it up and places it to her ear. A piercing electronic squeal comes from the handset.**_

Lydia winced at the sound.

 _ **Suddenly, she is in the high school A massive spider web tunnel stretches the full length. As she touches it in different spots, she hears voices, screams, gunshots, the crawling sound, doors locking, more screaming, more gunshots, growling, and then a clear voice. It says, "You let it out. It was supposed to ride with The Hunt forever."**_

"Oh shit" Stiles swore. "We're In trouble if the hunt was its seal" Lydia muttered.

 _ **She jerks away and ends up wrapping herself up in the web. Suddenly she's back in Scott's living room. She is terrified. Mason apparently dropped the bag with the rat in the hospital during the fight. He and Liam discuss the fact that Melissa is going to be mad at them as they walk into the school for a late-night study hall. The hellhound has followed Liam to the school. Parrish has followed the hellhound. The pair squares off at opposite ends of the hallway. They exchange a few words explaining that they're both hellhounds. Parrish questions why he's in Beacon Hills just as Liam and Mason walk in. The hellhound says he's there because of something "you let out." He looks past Parrish to Liam and says "It must be stopped."**_

"And this guy was the guardian" Allison sighed.

 _ **Both he and Parrish flame on and rush at each other prepared to fight. In the school parking lot, Tamara Monroe places some textbooks into her car trunk. She hears the hellhounds growling, and quickly dumps out her purse and finds two vials of liquid. One appears to be full of**_ _ **Yellow Wolfsbane**_ _ **. Monroe then retrieves a gun from her trunk.**_

"How did she" Chris narrowed his eyes.

 _ **Inside the school, Parrish is getting tossed around by the older hellhound. He manages to get in a few hits, and the hellhound suffers a severe clawing on his torso, but he eventually picks up Parrish and tosses him down the hall and out the doors, leaving him unconscious. Liam tells Mason to run and then takes on the hellhound. He gets in some good hits, but the hellhound pins him against the lockers and says, "If the**_ _ **Wild Hunt**_ _ **couldn't keep you, nothing can." He again listens to Liam's heartbeat. It is pounding, but something about it convinces the hell hound that he's made a mistake. "No, no, it's not you," he says. Mason picks this moment to attack the hellhound with an aluminum bat. The hellhound grabs it mid-swing, and it begins to melt under his hand. He snatches it away and bats the human into the lockers with it. Liam gets free and pounds on the hellhound. The hellhound slashes at the werewolf, but Liam goes off. He punches and ducks and weaves and eventually knocks his opponent solidly into the lockers. The hellhound is amused and begins laughing. He says, "It won't stay hidden. It must be stopped. Nothing else matters."**_

"Nicely done Liam" Scott claps with a smile. "You stood your own against an old formidable opponent" Peter nodded.

 _ **Liam breathes deeply and starts his mantra again. When he opens his eyes, The hellhound is gone. Mason regains consciousness and rejoins his friend. Scott packs up Stiles' Jeep in preparation to drive down to UC Davis. His coache's whistle hangs from the rearview mirror. As he settles in the seat, a note falls down from the sun visor. It's from Stiles. It says, "Be gentle." After one false start, Scott cranks the Jeep. The head lights come on illuminating Lydia. She still looks scared. "We can't leave," she says.**_

"So close" Scott sighed.

 _ **Mason helps Liam to the locker room. The wounds inflicted by hellfire won't heal as fast as other injuries would. Liam is in a lot of pain, and his body is ripped up in several places. Liam feels defeated, but Mason is impressed that he fought a hellhound on his own without Scott. Liam says he doesn't want to get used to that but Mason says, "Wounds heal. People move. Things change." Liam says it still hurts.**_

Mason put a hand on Liam's shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze. "The pain won't stay for long" Mason smiled at him which Liam returned.

 _ **Malia stares at a computer screen. It shows a map of the world and flight information from SFO to CDG. "Flight Delayed" flashes in red. She refreshes the screen and it now flashes a green "On Time" banner. She gasps and collects her luggage, and turns toward the door. Lydia and Scott are blocking her exit. She beings to protest, "No! It's just rats, rats and wolves, and maybe a little bug problem." Lydia insists that they need her. Malia turns toward the window and opens it. Lydia explains that Liam and Mason called. Malia insists that they've got it covered. Scott says he can't make her stay and won't try. Malia says she doesn't want to and pushes past Lydia and out the door. After a few seconds, Malia's bag flies back into the room. Scott catches it. She returns. She asks what they're supposed to do, and Scott says they're looking for a hellhound.**_

"Aww someone cares" Stiles chuckled earning a growl from the girl in question.

 _ **The hellhound, apparently badly injured during the fight, stumbles through the woods. Lydia explains to Malia and Scott about her vision and what she learned. She says they opened a door to another world and something came out with them. She says they need the hellhound to stop it. Malia says they can put it back because they've put things back before. Scott says it might not be that simple. Lydia says there's always a price to pay for meddling in things like the Wild Hunt. Scott says they learned that lesson from the**_ _ **Nemeton**_ _ **. Monroe catches up with the hellhound in the woods and shoots him the chest. It hurts, he screams in pain and falls back. She thinks she killed him, but he's soon back on his feet and growling. They struggle. She drops her gun. She manages to get it back and shoots him the forehead. He drops, apparently dead.**_

"That imbecile" Chris half groans and half growls. "She is trying to protect others" Allison defended her but her father was too angry to listen.

 _ **Scott and the pack arrive at the school just in time to hear the fight between the hellhound and Monroe, but they arrive at the scene after the guidance counselor is gone. The hellhound is apparently dead leaving them to ponder what could kill an unkillable creature. They find a bullet casing nearby with a fleur-de-lis etched on. This is the symbol for**_ _ **The Argent family**_ _ **.**_

"Gerard" Chris growled slamming his fist on the arm of the chair. He was not happy with his father's apparent trainee and was sure that the problem this time would get fanned up by him.

 _ **Lydia says, "Then it's true." Malia presses to know what else she heard in the web during her vision. Lydia continues, "The sound of people who've never lifted a hand against another human being." "Something was killing them?" Scott asks. "They were killing each other," She says. To illustrate this point of normal people turning into killers, Monroe returns to her car. She appears badly shaken and wipes blood from her face. As she calms herself, she looks in the mirror and a half-smile creeps across her face and all the way up to her eyes.**_

"She is creepy. I know she means well but she gives me a Gerard feeling" Stiles mumbled.

 _ **Lydia, Malia, and Scott sit on his bed questioning if they should call Stiles or not. Lydia wonders if they could just say they forgot. She's worried saying they almost lost him last time.**_

"I love you for worrying about me this much but you know I would hate to be kept in the dark" he looked at Lydia with a smirk. "Doesn't stop me from trying though" she muttered with a small smile.

 _ **Malia and Scott both think Stiles wouldn't forgive them if this current crisis turns out to be something big.**_

"See" Stiles pointed out and Lydia rolled her eyes.

 _ **Scott says, in the voicemail he left, that Stiles sounded really excited to be there. Malia urges him to play it and Scott does.**_ _ **"Hey Scott. So, I'm here. I'm in Quantico, Virginia at the FBI. I'm at the frickin' FBI. It's real. I'm really here. I kind of told Lydia that I miss her, and I can't wait to get home, but … Listen Scott, whatever you're doing right now, just make sure you're still getting out of Beacon Hills. Maybe you think you can't leave, you know, like the whole thing falls apart if you're not there, which I get, but you have to. I know you're supposed to drive out tonight, so, if you don't call me back, promise me you're actually going. Just get in the Jeep and go."**_ _ **Stiles, dressed in a white shirt, black tie, a laminated badge on a lanyard, black pants, and shiny black dress shoes arrives at the "Division of Justice." He enters a classroom with other men and women dressed in the same type clothing. As Stiles fumbles with his backpack, removing pencils, pens, and a metal water bottle, the man at the head of the class explains that the FBI seal includes three words, Loyalty, Courage, and Integrity. These are also the qualities the bureau expects from all their "interns." He explains that their six-month internship will include field work with actual FBI agents.**_

"We are so proud of you" Claudia said with a grand smile and hugged her son as close to her as possible, while Noah hugged them both.

 _ **Stiles keeps interrupting him with questions and continues to fumble with his stuff.**_

"Typical excited Stiles" Melissa shakes her head fondly.

 _ **The agent explains that one recent manhunt included the crisis response team chasing down a "bizarrely feral, UNSUB in the wilderness of North Carolina." On the screen, images of**_ _ **Derek Hale**_ _ **running flash.**_

The Hale's all gaped at the screen. "Holy shit you're wanted by the FBI" Laura gasped. "This is so cool" Peter laughed only to be backhanded in the face from Malia.

 _ **Stiles does a spit take, spewing water onto the intern seated in front of him. The instructor looks down at his sheet to address him. Seeing the name**_ _ **Mieczyslaw Stilinski**_ _ **, he simply calls him "young man."**_

The room snorts in unison.

 _ **Stiles asks why they're after the UNSUB, the answer is mass murder.**_

"Okay I can get that if it was some other supernatural creature he had to take down" Laura muttered.


	104. 6-12

_**Theo Raeken**_ _ **is apparently homeless.**_

"What a wonderful start" Theo mutters sourly.

 _ **Night after night he curls up in the backseat of his SUV, and every morning he is awakened by cops knocking on the window. One night, as he is alone again in his vehicle, a spider is seen outside the window. It appears to be trying to get into the vehicle. On another night, Theo notices a spider crawling on his arm. More interested than scared, he watches as it moves quickly to his hand. Suddenly, it breaks the skin and crawls inside of him. Theo tracks its movements up the inside of his arm and around his shoulder.**_

"Okay what the actual fuck" Theo panicked. "Don't tell me you're afraid of spiders as well" Stiles muttered with a smirk. "When they crawl into your skin? Hell yeah I am" Theo shivered.

 _ **He breaks into the**_ _ **Beacon Hills Animal Clinic**_ _ **, and, with the aid of a mirror, spots the spider under the skin of his mid back. He stabs at and pulls it out. Theo watches as the spider flails on the end of the scalpel for a moment before exploding in a puff of black smoke. He considers calling**_ _ **Scott McCall**_ _ **. He has his contact information up on his phone, but, before he can dial, there is a familiar tap on the window. Thinking it is yet another deputy telling him to move along, Theo looks up to find several guns are pointed at him. He raises his hands in surrender. Several shots fire.**_

Theo blinked in shock, "Am I?" he asked with a strange pitch in his voice. "Naah you're too hard to kill" Stiles waved it off instantly. Theo gave stiles a squinted look but relaxed slightly.

 _ **Scott runs through the woods at night. It reminds him of a night several years ago when he was being chased by hunters shortly after his first transformation. He remembers the story**_ _ **Chris Argent**_ _ **told him about a rabid dog breaking its teeth to get out of a cage. He is roused from his memories by Malia saying they can still catch whoever killed**_ _ **Halwyn**_ _ **. Scott says they need to get the casing they found to Argent even if he is the one who fired the bullet. Scott hears several heartbeats in the woods. His vision blurs for a moment and he can actually see the hunters that were just haunting his memories. He tells Malia and Lydia to run. As he flees, Malia calls for him to wait. When he looks back, he can see a cadre of hunters pursuing. Scott is stopped short by several red laser-sight beams crisscrossing the woods. He bares his fangs and growls as his eyes go red. He runs and tackles the closest figure. It's actually**_ _ **Sheriff Stilinski**_ _ **but it still takes a second for Scott to realize this and stop struggling. Stilinski has his handgun pointed at Scott's heart.**_

"woah woah he's on your side!" Stiles exclaimed in panic.

 _ **Scott's fangs and extra hair are visible to the rest of the dozen or so deputies in the woods. The sheriff attempts to calm them by saying it's just a kid, but Deputy Vargas, with her gun still pointed at Scott, pipes up "What's wrong with his eyes?" Deputy**_ _ **Jordan Parrish**_ _ **steps in front of the woman and tells her to stand down.**_

"Thanks" Scott threw a thankful look at Parrish who smiled in return.

 _ **Lydia and Malia catch up just as Scott's face returns to normal. Scott worries that the other deputies saw him, but Parrish says it's not anything they haven't seen before. They discuss the fact that Halwyn was a**_ _ **hellhound**_ _ **, which is supposed to be unkillable. Noah senses that Scott has more to tell. Scott says he doesn't believe it was a regular bullet that killed the hound, Parrish says he hopes that is the case. Scott doesn't reveal that he has the bullet casing, instead, he puts it in his pocket. Later, Scott, Lydia, and Malia agree that they won't say anything about the bullet casing until they talk to Argent. Lydia says they need to do it soon because of her earlier premonition of people screaming and killing each other.**_

"Yeah a grim reminder if you will" Mason chuckled making people groan. "Shut up!" Stiles muttered but secretly he liked that joke.

 _ **As Liam suits up for lacrosse drills, Mason says the prospect of a mythical creature so powerful that only the**_ _ **Wild Hunt**_ _ **could hold it presents a serious problem. Liam explains that**_ _ **Brett Talbot**_ _ **has agreed to help him run drills with the freshman hoping to make first line. Mason gets a little excited at the prospect of seeing Brett whom he describes as "Incredibly hot Brett with the 8-pack abs." Liam says Brett was the only person who would volunteer to help. Mason says that's because it's unlikely any of them will make first line before junior year. Liam says Scott and he both did it. Mason points out they had supernatural help.**_ _ **Aaron**_ _ **thanks Liam for the equipment and the extra help. He acknowledges that they probably won't make first line, but he's still grateful. Mason tries to be encouraging but takes it overboard.**_

Liam rolls his eyes while Mason looked sheepish.

 _ **In the hallway,**_ _ **Tamora Monroe**_ _ **stops Mason and Liam. She encourages them to come by her office to talk.**_

"After what she did? No thank you" Liam shook his head vigorously. "Well maybe you should go and take her down instead" Theo said with a smirk. "I like that idea" Peter put in his vote and Malia looked like she agreed. "No killing" Scott sighed.

 _ **Mason says Liam has a lot to talk about. Liam demurs, but she persists saying he doesn't want to start the senior year with "any heavy burdens" on his shoulders and sets a time at 2 PM. She gives him a form and asks that he consider it. She says she has an open-door policy. She opens the door to her office and sees a large hunting knife stuck into her desk.**_

"Open door is right. Someone could literally come in and stab the desk" Stiles snorted. "Probably one of her hunting buddies" Allison scowled.

 _ **On the whiteboard, someone wrote "OPPORTUNITIES MULTIPLY AS THEY ARE SEIZED" in red marker. Mason catches sight of the quote and says that he loves Sun Tzu.**_

"Mason dude" Liam deadpanned. "I clearly didn't see the knife!" Mason groaned.

 _ **Monroe tries to block his view of the knife sticking out of her desk and sends him away. She manages to pry the knife out of the desk. In the locker room, spiders are swarming over Aaron's helmet. He puts it on and they swarm over his face and into his mouth.**_

Lydia gave an involuntary shudder but relaxed considerably when Stiles took her hand in his and gave it a gentle squeeze.

 _ **Parrish tries his key card on the cell as Lydia listens intently. She says that was not the sound she heard while inside the giant spider web. Parrish says it could be any public building, but Lydia suddenly remembers. It was one of the doors in the "closed unit" at**_ _ **Eichen House**_ _ **.**_

"You just remember such details huh?" Allison rose an eyebrow. "Well when you're stuck in that place and are done a lot of stupid shit, things tend to stick" Lydia snapped then sighed. "Sorry" she mumbled to Allison still disturbed by her future in the nut house while Stiles comforted her with back rubs. "It's okay and I'm sorry too" Allison said with an apologetic look.

 _ **Parrish refuses to let Lydia go to Eichen because every time she goes there someone tries to kill her. He agrees to go himself instead. Malia and Scott search Argent's bunker. They go through his bullets but they don't match the casing they found. The hunter isn't answering their calls or texts and Malia suggests he just doesn't want to be found. They decide to break into his laptop to check his calendar. Malia tries several incorrect passwords "Gun" "Lots of guns" "Hunter." She realizes it wouldn't be "hunter" because Argent isn't a hunter anymore.**_

"It wouldn't be those things either" Chris said, his right eyebrow twitching.

 _ **She also probes why Scott would think there were hunters in the woods since there are apparently no more hunters in Beacon Hills. He ignores her question and she drops it. Scott breaks the lock from a crate and opens it. It is packed with guns. Scott says he thinks Argent is back in business selling weapons. He finds a compound bow in another box and realizes what his computer password would be. He types in ALL …**_

Allison smiled sadly and hugged her father. "I love you" she muttered and kissed his cheek. Chris smiled the biggest smile he had since coming to this room. He put an arm around his daughter and kissed her head and just held her close, remembering all those times of her when she was a little kid.

 _ **At Eichen House,**_ _ **Conrad Fenris**_ _ **explains about Halwyn's past. He says the Hellhound built the closed unit at Eichen House back in 1912 so that "he'd always have a room." Fenris says no one knew the hellhound's actual age and that he remained in Eichen for hundred years in a "state of hibernation in case IT got out." Fenris tries the lights, but they simply fizzle, he says something's wrong. A woman's voice calls for help from down the hallway. Parrish asks him to open the door, but Fenris acts scared and says he won't. Parrish's eyes go orange and he insists. Fenris opens the door then quickly locks it and runs away after Parrish enters.**_

"Oh come on" Parrish groaned. "And that room is hell hound proof too" Stiles groaned.

 _ **Brett is running rings around Liam on the lacrosse field. He shows off a "perfect hitch," a "perfect split/dodge," and a "perfect rocker." Liam turns to the freshman and tells them to remember to cover their back "especially if your opponent is a dick."**_

Liam, Mason and Corey snort in agreement.

 _ **Brett brings up the fact that Liam will have big shoes to fill when Scott leaves. They square off again and Brett easily knocks him out of the way and scores. Mason and**_ _ **Lori**_ _ **arrive. Mason explains that**_ _ **Corey**_ _ **practiced all summer to play goalie and has actually gotten really good. Brett promptly scores easily and Corey falls down out of the goal.**_

"Yeah real good this one" Theo chuckled. Corey blushed a bright red while Mason gave Theo a sour look.

 _ **Lori tries to be encouraging pointing out that the season doesn't start for a week. Liam again tries to stop Brett from scoring but gets driven back into Corey and they all three fall into the goal. Liam is so angry, he squeezes the lacrosse ball so hard he leaves claw marks on the rubber surface. Brett comes at him again. This time, Liam gets under him and flips him over. He scoops it up in the pocket and runs down the field toward Corey. Liam shoots, the ball flies right at Corey's head. He falls backward and the ball cuts right through the net of the goal.**_

"Okay tone it down. You're gonna kill the boy" Scott sighed. "Sorry" Liam said to Scott and then Corey who shrugged it off.

 _ **Brett gets in Liam's face saying, "There he is. That's the I. E. D. I remember." He teases Liam about his Intermittent Explosive Disorder and asks what it will take to make him explode. Liam's eyes have gone yellow. Brett says he's trying to help because Liam is out of control and unless he can fix it, someone will get hurt. Tamara Monroe returns to her car and finds the lacrosse ball Liam just shot. She notes the claw marks in it and notices Brett on the field. Brett shoots. Corey manages to catch with his stick but is propelled back to the ground by the force of it. Brett helps Corey up.**_

"Oh no" Hayden mutters. "The nutter has her eyes on Brett now" Liam groaned.

 _ **Jordan Parrish follows the voice in the darkened halls of Eichen House. He finds the large shower room filled with dead and dying people. One woman is still alive. He reaches her and sees a large electrical cable has been cut and dropped on the wet floor. The current killed everyone but her and is still flowing. She says, "It's here" just as Fenris enters. He says he put the people in the shower room then picks up the electrical cable and jabs it into Parrish's chest.**_

"Why do all the heads of the nut house become evil?" Stiles sighed. "I don't think he is evil" Lydia said thoughtfully but didn't elaborate on her words.

 _ **Liam repeats his mantra (sun, moon, truth) as he enters the locker room. It's not working, He's still angry and punches his locker door several times leaving deep dents in the metal. Finally calm, he's a little freaked out by the dents in the door.**_

"Yeah huh you need work. A lot of work" Allison said through pursed lips as Liam blushed.

 _ **In a deserted concrete stall, Chris Argent is doing a gun deal with a group of men wearing military fatigues. He says Major Delane is his contact at Camp Robertson and wonders why Delane didn't tell him about the change in protocol. One of the men, Colonel Harper, says Argent's contact was sent overseas. When Argent comments that he didn't know the Army worked that fast and Harper agrees, the former hunter realizes these guys are not legit because the Major is not Army, he's a Marine.**_

"This might end badly" Allison mumbled holding her father tighter. "Might? I think you mean will" Chris thought, not daring to scare his daughter any more than he needs to.

 _ **Argent demands to know who's buying all the guns because he doesn't sell to "weekend warriors." Harper says they're taking the guns, ammo, and crates. He raises one of the automatic weapons at Argent. They're unloaded, but the men brought their own clips. Argent says he has a backup plan. At that moment Malia knocks out one of the soldiers as she and Scott step in behind Argent.**_

"When did you plan that?" Allison looked at his father.

 _ **He's surprised to see them. They say they're his backup, but, it turns out, the guy Malia just knocked out and is currently standing on was his "inside man."**_

"It would seem I didn't" Chris chuckled while Allison giggled.

 _ **All of Harper's men begin firing. Once they exhaust their clips, Argent returns fire with both of his large pistols. Malia pulls the "inside man" to safety. Scott takes out one bad guy, Malia another. Harper gets Malia in his sights, but Argent puts a gun to his head. Instead of telling Argent who the guns are really for, Harper drops a grenade. As Scott and the rest dive for cover, Harper escapes. Scott explains that they broke into Argent's laptop to find him. Chris says he needs to change his password.**_

"Well not really. Only we would know what it is exactly" Scott chuckled. "More than enough reason to change" Chris rolled his eyes with a smirk.

 _ **Fenris carries a nearly unconscious Parrish back to Halwyn's old cell. He explains how angry he's become struggling each day to protect the world from the things in the "closed unit." He says he realized they shouldn't cage the supernatural, instead they should kill them to protect humans.**_

"Great another member to club Gerard" Stiles groaned.

 _ **Parrish says the cell can't hold him, but Fenris reminds him that they've held a**_ _ **hellhound**_ _ **before. He turns the dial to drop the temperature in the cell. He gloats that most of the human body is water and that he can freeze Parrish solid. Brett returns to his car at the school lacrosse field. Tamora Monroe is waiting for him. She says she saw him play and that he's "something else." She tosses him the ball she found earlier. Tiny puffs of purple smoke rise from it as Brett holds it. He drops to the ground. Monroe informs him that it's**_ _ **wolfsbane**_ _ **.**_

"Can we make an exception when we kill her? She is too Gerard like for my liking" Stiles muttered. "Maybe" Chris and Allison mutter.

 _ **Lydia's phone chimes. A reminder pops up that says "Last day to register for MIT Today, 6:00 PM" she looks at it but is distracted by the sound of radio feedback. She sees a deputy place a police walkie talkie into a charger. She picks it up and turns up the volume. There's nothing but static. She keys the mic and says "Hello." More static follows but then she hears Conrad Fenris' voice say, "Even you can freeze solid Deputy Parrish. We should be killing them." This is followed by the sounds of screaming. Monroe breaks Brett's lacrosse stick. She claims she has nothing against him personally, but, she says, "You don't deserve this much power. You don't deserve to terrify people."**_

"Deserve? Terrify people? This bitch is the one terrifying everyone. And who does she think she is deciding who should get what?" Stiles growled clearly hating this new hunter.

 _ **She then stabs him in the chest with the pointy end of the broken stick. She rips the stick from his chest and knocks him across the face. Apparently amazed by his healing she is agape. She says no one should be able to do that and takes out the large knife she found in her desk earlier. As she comes at Brett, he swipes at her with his claws, catching her neck. He runs away.**_

"Good job" Stiles muttered and leaned back in his seat, getting concerned looks from his parents and girlfriend.

 _ **Argent explains that he hasn't been avoiding the**_ _ **McCall Pack**_ _ **, he's been busy investigating why gun sales are so high recently. Scott questions him about the shell casing they found, but Argent says he hasn't "stamped a bullet" since**_ _ **Allison**_ _ **died. He's surprised and concerned that someone killed a hellhound using an "Argent" bullet. Scott's lost the casing, but Argent says if they can find the slug, they can find the killer. Liam tries in vain to fix his dented and broken locker door but only manages to hit himself in the head. He sees the "Counseling Request Form" Ms. Monroe gave him earlier and considers it. Hearing someone coming down the hall outside, he quickly rips the door off his locker. Corey and Mason have been looking for him. They need to study for a History test on Mussolini and the role of fear-baiting in the rise of fascism. Mason notices blood on the floor. They follow it to the shower where they find a human-shaped bloody blob. Mason, Liam, and Corey decided to search for Aaron because all the other lacrosse players are accounted for. They find him sitting alone in a dark classroom.**_

"Well at least he is safe" Mason sighed in relief.

 _ **He smiles at them. They complain that they've been trying to call him. He pulls out his phone and says, "Must have died." Lydia arrives at Eichen House to find the gate unlocked. She enters and, as she walks the halls, begins to have flashbacks of all the terrible things that happened to her there. She turns to flee, but then hears Fenris voice in her head again, "We should be killing them." She also hears something breaking and a scream. Fenris has a handgun. He tells a near-frozen Parrish that he's never liked guns and that there were far better ways to solve problems. Fenris says he must be having a crisis of faith. He says he can't be afraid anymore and places the gun to Parrish's head. Lydia screams and knocks Fenris into the far wall.**_

"Yes Lydia!" Stiles cheers and hugs Lydia who was caught by surprise but hugged back.

 _ **Scott and Malia return to the spot where Halwyn died. Malia, explaining that she lacks subtly, questions Scott on why he freaked out about hunters in the woods the night before. He admits that he freaked out, which he believes freaked out Malia. Malia denies this leaving Scott confused. He thought that was why she was trying to get him to talk about what happened. She says she wanted him to talk because she's worried about him. Scott says he's okay. They share stories of being hunted by loved ones, Malia by her dad and Scott by his girlfriend's dad. They laugh. Scott asks if the fear of being hunted ever goes away. Malia says there's a red laser sight right behind him. Scott doesn't believe her but turns and sees it's true. It's just Argent. He says the laser sight it to determine the trajectory of the bullet that killed Halwyn. He finds it in a tree and has Scott use his werewolf eyes to see if he can spot it too. He does. Argent says it's because the bullet is made of silver "an element with a higher heat signature than regular metal" that shines infrared. They speculate on who would actually try to use silver bullets since it's only a myth that silver kills werewolves. They believe it's someone who is new to werewolf hunting and doesn't know any better.**_

"But silver did kill the hell hound. Maybe the legends are true" Liam muttered. "No there has to be other reasons" Chris said.

 _ **Later at Scott's house, Lydia explains that Fenris killed every supernatural in the "closed unit." Lydia says she did it because he was afraid. Scott says everything keeps coming back to fear. Scot believes everyone is afraid of them. "We don't know what fear will do to somebody. It could change them. They'll look at us differently. They'll do things that they've never done before."**_

"And that in itself is very scary" Talia muttered, remembering stories she heard about what humans would do in fear that someone was not human. The Salem witch trials were the biggest example of that.

 _ **As he's speaking there are flashes kids at school looking at Liam in a weird way. One girl moves to a different station in the chemistry lab when he sits down. Malia says people are stupid. Lydia corrects her saying people are scared. Scott says scared people will do things you wouldn't believe. Back in the woods, Tamora Monroe is searching for Brett. He's up a tree and jumps down on top of her. She drops her knife. He picks her up and is about to claw her when an arrow punctures his shoulder. He runs away.**_ _ **Gerard Argent**_ _ **comes out of the shadows and says he recognizes raw talent in Ms. Monroe.**_

"Great!" Chris groaned. "He had to be here didn't he" Allison muttered in anger.


	105. 6-13

_**With a hunter's arrow still sticking out of his chest,**_ _ **Brett Talbot**_ _ **runs through the woods of Beacon Hills. He knows he's being pursued by both**_ _ **Tamora Monroe**_ _ **and**_ _ **Gerard Argent**_ _ **. He stops to catch his breath and looks at his phone, no service.**_

"Don't stop!" Liam hissed. He might not have liked Brett that much, but he had helped him out in the future a lot and he did not want him to die. Not that he wanted him to die before.

 _ **Brett attempts to pull the arrow from his chest, but, realizing he can't, he presses himself up against the tree to drive the arrow further into him and out his back. With more of the pointy end of the arrow now protruding, he's able to reach around, grab it, and rip it from his body.**_

"That has got to hurt" Allison winced. "Hurts like a bitch" Laura muttered rubbing her shoulder. She remembered exactly what she felt when she had gotten shot at once.

 _ **Tamora Monroe is impatient with Gerard. She says they're allowing Brett to gain too much ground. The old man calls her an amateur. She brags that she killed a hellhound and "took out" a werewolf, but he points out that**_ _ **Halwyn**_ _ **and the werewolf in question were both wounded and alone at the time. He warns her not to mistake luck for skill.**_

"At least he is brutally honest" Stiles mumbled. "He won't praise you until you do something cleanly" Chris muttered darkly.

 _ **They bicker about tactics. Gerard says the longer they wait, the weaker Brett will become. She counters that the extra time will give him a chance to find help. He offers up a quote, "The greatest victory is that which requires no battle." She recognizes it as Sun Tzu. Brett's phone rings. Gerard and Monroe set off to follow the sound. They find the phone lying on the ground still ringing. Brett throws Gerard's arrow back at her but the old man pulls her out of the way just in time, and it hits a tree instead. Monroe catches sight of Brett in the shadows and raises her rifle to fire. He dodges the shots and runs away into the night.**_

Liam let go of the breath he was holding. "Too bad the arrow missed" Mason grumbled.

 _ **Mason**_ _ **and Liam play video games in Liam's bedroom. Liam wins. Mason doesn't want to leave and suggests a sleepover. Liam wants to know why since they've not had a sleepover since they were 10. Mason says that he keeps seeing the bloody, faceless lump of a body they found in the locker room earlier. He explains about after images and an extreme version called Palinopsia. It means "seeing again" and the image doesn't fade. Liam wants to know where Mason sees the body. "Everywhere," he replies. Just over Liam's shoulder, near the door, we can see the arm and lower torso of the bloody faceless lump.**_

"Oh man" Corey mumbled rubbing Mason on the back. "That was a scary thing" Stiles said sympathetically. Mason nodded but didn't say much, the body was disgusting.

 _ **Melissa McCall**_ _ **bolts the doors to the hospital morgue. She pulls out the drawer containing the bloody lump of a body intending to take a tissue sample. She hesitates and chides herself to "get it together." She pulls back the sheet covering the body and gasps. She is afraid and quickly covers it back up.**_

"It's a dead body. Why am I afraid of a dead body?" Melissa frowned. "Well it is hideous" Mason said weakly. "Still. It's a dead body" Melissa's frown deepened. "Maybe it's the effect of that thing that got loose" Stiles suggested. "Probably" Peter mused.

 _ **Managing her fear but still breathing heavily, she pulls the sheet back once more. She retrieves a scalpel and reaches out to cut away a piece of flesh. As the tool comes close to the body, all the lights in the room flicker. She reaches forward again, almost makes contact with the blade, and the lights go out completely. Melissa manages to get her phone light on. It appears that the body is no longer lying in the drawer. Fear takes her as she runs for the exit and out into the hall.**_

"Are we dealing with demons?" Corey yelped and shivered. "No. No we are not" Talia mumbled. At least she felt it was not a demon.

 _ **Lori**_ _ **finds Scott and shows him Brett's broken and bloodied lacrosse stick. She says he's missing and she heard gunshots. Mason finds**_ _ **Corey**_ _ **in the Library courtyard at school and explains that Brett is missing. The pair meet up with Lydia in the chemistry classroom. Lydia focuses on the blue flame of a Bunsen burner. She is trying to concentrate, but Mason and Corey keep talking. She scolds them to be quiet. The both apologize but immediately begin chatting again.**_

"Sorry" they both say in unison while Lydia rolls her eyes.

 _ **They discuss Lydia's**_ _ **Banshee**_ _ **nature and how visions usually find her instead of her trying to initiate one. Mason says if Brett was dead, Lydia would already know. She scolds them more forcefully to be quiet and let her concentrate. Corey can't help himself, he reaches out for the Newton's cradle sitting on the lab station. He plucks at one of the steel balls. Mason realizes what he's doing just a second too late, there is a loud "click" before he can stop the kinetic energy toy from moving. They both apologize.**_ _ **Lydia**_ _ **begins to hear something, a school bell ringing, and footsteps in the hall. The Bunsen burner flame blows out. Lydia beings to write.**_

"Guess that's all you needed huh?" Corey smirked. "Be quiet when we do the banshee thing or I will smack you both upside the head so heard you will need surgery to fix brain damage" Lydia huffed while Stiles sweatdropped.

 _ **Liam finds the arrow Brett threw. Scott believes he set a trap and is fighting back. Lori retrieves the arrow from the tree and says they need to let Brett know they're looking for him. She sets off to howl, but Malia stops her pointing out that howling would give away their position to the hunter. Liam believes the hunter is new and therefore they can take him. Scott is sure, if Brett were to howl back, they could get to him first because no human can track sound faster than they can. Scott says they've done this before and they know what they're doing. Malia can't catch Brett's scent. Lori says he's masking his odor. Liam catches sight of some tracks and takes off running after Brett, Lori follows. Scott and Malia discuss the fact that Brett's trap didn't work suggesting the hunter may not be an amateur or is learning.**_

"From none other than my grand pappy" Allison said with mock sweetness in her voice. Scott looked at his girlfriend and shook his head in amusement.

 _ **Lydia appears to have written the same thing over and over again in various languages and forms. Mason manages to translate part of it with his phone, it shows the Chinese portion of the page says 68. They recognize 68 written in Roman numerals as well. "Er" is also written on the page. Lydia realizes this is the symbol for Erbium, which has an atomic number of 68. Lydia decides to return to the location of her last premonition. She pointedly says she's going alone due to Mason and Corey's inability to pipe down. Lydia walks down the row of lockers counting her paces. She stops when she reaches 68. The locker she stops in front of has a combination lock with a red cover. Realizing the lockers all have numbers, she races to locker number 68. She opens the door but it's empty.**_ _ **Nolan**_ _ **jerks awake at one of the desks on the upper floor of the library. He looks down and sees Corey and Mason trying to figure out what significance the number 68 might hold. He is joined at the railing by**_ _ **Aaron**_ _ **who starts plucking at the threads of Nolan's beliefs about his Corey. He points out that Corey seems to "show up out of nowhere." Nolan says he's not sure what he's seen to which Aaron says there's a way he can be sure.**_

"Great we have another creep amongst us too" Corey groaned.

 _ **Brett lays down a false trail of blood and tracks to throw the hunters off his trail. He seems to be bleeding black now due to the poison in Gerard's arrow. He ties up the wound so he won't leave any more blood behind. He sees a squarish rock and gets an idea.**_ _ **Chris Argent**_ _ **says he's surprised that Melissa called him to come to the hospital. She says someone had to call someone. She hands him the scalpel and asks him to get the tissue sample. He asks if it's a dead body and she says "mostly." Just inside the morgue, Chris begins to feel something is off. He is shaking and sweating by the time he reaches the draw with the bloody lump.**_

"Dad what?" Allison looked at her father. "I'm afraid it seems" Chris muttered. Allison blinked in surprise, she had never seen her dad this afraid before.

 _ **He removes his coat and wipes his brow. As he reaches forward with the blade, the plastic wrapping on another table begins to rustle as the corpse inside appears to breathe. Chris quickly rejoins Melissa in the hallway. They discuss how they both felt overwhelming fear/terror near the faceless body. Gerard and Monroe reach the end of Brett's blood trail. Gerard reminds her what he said about tracking, to look for signature prints, heel marks, and she realizes that they've been following a false trail. She suggests that Brett feels them closing in on him and wants to escape the pressure. Gerard says she shouldn't think of Brett not as a teenager but as an animal. Wounded animals hide, which leads Gerard to believe Brett's gone underground.**_

"Even with a logic as twisted as that, he can read people so well" Stiles shakes his head. "We are all animals at the base" Lydia muttered to her new boyfriend.

 _ **Malia and Scott have lost Brett's trail. Scott says he might have just stopped bleeding. Liam suggests they split up. Malia doesn't like the idea pointing out they'd be more vulnerable as individuals. Liam balks saying he's been making decisions without her for three months. She turns to Scott to back her up but he's distracted by the hunter tracks he found hidden on the ground. There are two sets of tracks. Lori spots a formation of stacked rocks and realizes it's a sign from Brett. Their Alpha**_ _ **Satomi**_ _ **taught them the art of rock balancing and the formation apparently tells Lori exactly where Brett is going. In the tunnels, Lori finds more signs that Brett is poisoned. She is on the edge of panic fearing that he might be close to death. She and Liam want to howl in order to find him. Malia again points out the risk and that Brett is still moving. Scott says they need to take the time to think. Lori is having none of the caution counseled by the others and says Brett needs to know that she's there and coming for him. Liam agrees and lets out a loud roar that echoes through the tunnels.**_

"You idiot" Malia groaned. "What?" Liam gave Malia a squinted look.

 _ **Brett is lying across a pipe high above the tunnel floor. He hears the howl and struggles to lift his head. Just below, Monroe and Gerard are talking. The counselor wonders how Brett managed to get behind them. Gerard says the roar came from another werewolf "making a mistake."**_

Liam flushed while Malia glared at the boy for giving up their advantage.

 _ **Monroe is nervous about facing a whole pack. Gerard chides her for thinking from a place of fear. She says she's thinking logically and mathematically because there are only two hunters and "too many of them." Gerard urges her to think strategically because that's Scott's Achilles' heel. The old man says that Scott, like most teenagers, thinks with his heart. Gerard says their strategy will be to divide and conquer.**_

"He knows me too well" Scott shook his head.

 _ **Above them, a single drop of black goo drips from Brett. He manages to catch it before it falls too far and alerts the hunters below. Chris holds his hand gun pointed at the head of the faceless bloody lump as Melissa once again tries to get a tissue sample. They're both still scared. He suggests that she talk to keep them calm and she begins to list off all the logical things that might explain why they're feeling so terrified of the weird corpse. She suggests that toxins or gasses released by the body might explain it. She correctly explains that a mixture of carbon dioxide and oxygen causes a feeling of suffocation and causes anxiety fear. Bad smells can induce fear as can infrasound The talking isn't helping. Their fear is reaching a peak. They're both shaking as he urges her to go ahead and get the sample. She slices off a thumb-sized sliver into a Petri dish. Chris slams the drawer shut and tries to catch his breath.**_

"Mission successful" Allison giggles. Chris rolled his eyes but had a smile on his face.

 _ **Melissa puts the tissue sample into a test tube and the test tube into a centrifuge. As it spins, she tells Chris that he doesn't have to stick around because the scary part is over. He refuses to leave her alone with "that thing." She believes it's because he wants to know what scared the hell out of him because not much scares him. She places the sample on a slide and the slide under a microscope. The tissue has no DNA, no cell structure. It is effectively nothing at all.**_

"How is that possible?" Lydia asked with eyes as wide as saucers. "So we are dealing with a thing with no basics. No DNA, no cell structure no basic human build, or any build at all" Stiles groans.

 _ **Later, Chris and Melissa are at the**_ _ **McCall House**_ _ **. She urges him to call if he finds anything in the Argent lore about bodies with no DNA that make you feel terrified. He speculates that the body isn't causing the fear, just amplifying it. They both still feel afraid. The conversation turns awkward as he makes to leave. Chris says he should have called her after their kiss.**_

"Dad!" Allison groaned while Chris flushed slightly.

 _ **She says she should have called and that she wanted to call. They almost kiss, but Argent says he has to go. Melissa says he doesn't have to go.**_

"Please tell me we are not going to see a make out session" Scott pleaded, earning him a slap over the head from both mother and girlfriend.

 _ **Scott's Pack**_ _ **and Lori continue searching the tunnels. Lori, not watching where she's going, trips a wired trap. Scott sees it at the last second and pushes her out of the way. He catches a spiked spear in the gut.**_

Melissa groaned holding her son's shoulder tightly. "Mom I'm okay" Scott says with a smile. Melissa nods but doesn't remove her grip on him.

 _ **Lori and Malia remove the spike. Malia applies pressure to Scott's wound. He speculates that the hunters knew they were coming and have been a step ahead of them the whole time. Malia tells him to be quiet and heal. Lori is still impatient and insists that they keep moving. Liam agrees saying they still outnumber the hunters three to two. Scott says the hunters are smarter. Scott puts all the clues together and decides they're not dealing with amateurs. Liam still thinks they can take them. Scott points out that Liam has never fought hunters. Lori's in a panic though and takes off after Brett by herself. Liam decides to go with her despite Scott's words of caution.**_

"You are an idiot you know that" Malia growled. Liam just gave her a sour look.

 _ **Scott urges Malia to go with them, but she stays at this side. Lori and Liam again lose the trail. Lori is frantic. Liam tries to reassure her saying he's taken several hits from Brett on the lacrosse field that prove just how strong he is. He says when he sees Brett coming, he does everything he can to get the hell out of the way. Lori explains that Brett started playing lacrosse because of her. She apparently didn't have any friends at her old school. Brett learned that Devenford Prep needed lacrosse players, taught himself the game, and won a scholarship to the private school. He then said a condition of his playing for them would be that they let Lori attend the school as well.**_

"He is a good brother" Hayden smiled. Liam nodded his head with a smile of his own.

 _ **They smell the poison oozing from Brett and follow the smell in hopes of finding him. Gerard has Monroe set up in a sniper's nest in one of the side tunnels. She's tired of waiting but he assures her they will come passed this spot. As Monroe watches through the rifle's scope, Liam and Lori run by. Gerard pushes the gun away interrupting her shot. Gerard explains that he's not out to kill just one werewolf.**_

Both Argents growl at the screen.

 _ **Malia wonders how they missed the trip wire Scott says they underestimated them. Malia pointed out the trap is pretty big to have been setup while they were in the tunnels. Scott sees rust on the trap's spring and realizes it's been down there a while. They speculate that it was Gerard since he and Chris were the last hunters they saw in the tunnels. Malia suggests it's not Gerard's style because the trap wasn't lethal. They realize it wasn't meant to kill, it was meant to slow them down and split them up. Realizing that Liam and Lori are walking right into a bigger trap, Scott struggles to his feet and they take off down the tunnel after them. Lori and Liam hear Brett's heartbeat and run toward it. They find him slumped over a crate. He has black goo leaking from both eyes, his nose, and mouth. Brett says Liam is a dumbass for helping him. A bright light flashes and the tunnel begins to fill with smoke. They run in the opposite direction. Monroe and Gerard bicker about missed opportunities. He tells her to trust him. She says she's not a trusting person. He says that will make her a good at what he has in mind. He says he's building an army to hunt all werewolves.**_

"And he is making good use of this creatures ability to magnify fear" Lydia mumbled. "Smart move" Stiles said begrudgingly.

 _ **Corey and Mason discuss alternatives involving the number 68, Route 68, 68 degrees. Corey says he just wants to help. They're interrupted by Nolan slamming a book down on the table. He claims he's trying to study for a biology test. He starts talking about how organism evolve and change. Corey points out that their test is on DNA versus RNA. Nolan wonders aloud if organisms can change and then change back again. Mason, trying to follow the thread. He correctly explains that the lifecycle of a parrot fish includes a transition from female to male, just as Hawkfish and earthworms transition back and forth through different sexes. Nolan wonders if there is a test to see if any of his classmates have changed and if there would be any way to tell if they had. He quickly stands up and stabs Corey in the hand. Blood rushes out and covers his hand. Everyone in the library is now looking. Nolan grabs Corey's hand. It's completely healed. He shows it to his classmates screaming "Look at him!"**_

"If only there was some way to control how fast we healed" Scott sighed. "There is but it takes years of training" Talia informed the soon to be alpha.

 _ **Mason tries to calm the other students claiming that Corey is fine and that it was just a scratch. Aaron watches from the second floor and smiles. Nolan takes his bloody pen and makes a quick exit. Distracted, Nolan runs into Lydia. She notices the number on his lacrosse hoodie, 68 and calls to him. She questions him about Brett. He doesn't know Brett. Then he realizes that Lydia is "one of them" and runs away.**_

"Just by a question? Kid is so smart" Stiles rolled his eyes, holding his girlfriend's hand.

 _ **Later, Lydia fills in Corey and Mason about her encounter with Nolan. The whole vision was about him. Lydia realizes Nolan's stabbing was to expose the supernaturals because he's afraid of them. Everyone entering and exiting the library courtyard is staring at them. She realizes her premonition about people turning on each other was wrong, the people are already turning on the supernaturals. Scott can't make it much further and collapses to the floor of the tunnel. Malia tries to take his pain but cannot. Malia says they should have called Stiles. Scott reminds her that they promised they wouldn't.**_

"Malia you break any such promises you got that?" Stiles said instantly. Malia nodded scowling.

 _ **This conversation shifts into one about how Stiles would feel about a burgeoning relationship between Scott and Malia although it's never expressed in those terms. Scott intimates that he believes Stiles would be fine with them being together.**_

Malia blinks in surprise as does Scott. Allison looks at her boyfriend and snorts at his expression.

 _ **Scott passes out. She reaches up to touch his face and begins to absorb his pain. It trails through her bloodstream and down her arm in black lines. Liam finds some of Gerard's sonic devices and realizes they're being herded. He tries to stop Brett and Lori but they are too far ahead and already up the ladder to the outside. They exit a manhole on Muse Street. Seconds later, a large truck slams into both Brett and Lori. Liam wolfs out and leaps up to the street. Lori is holding Brett's hand, he appears to be dead. She tells him to close his eyes. She says she couldn't take away his pain and then appears to die too.**_

"Oh no" Liam groans rubbing his face. Two people had died and it was his fault. "Liam" Hayden said gently. "If only I had stopped her back then" he said in a shaky whisper. "Then she would have left without you" Malia said with a grunt. Liam looked at the girl but didn't say anything, he still felt it was his fault.

 _ **Liam roars, bearing his fangs, claws, and glowing eyes to a growing crowd of onlookers who point in his direction. The driver of the truck gets out, spots Gerard and Monroe in the distance and nods in their direction. Monroe realizes that Gerard set the whole thing up. He says the lesson for her is that the best way to build an army is through fear.**_

"I'm going to kill that man once we get back" Hayden snarls. "I'll be joining in" Liam and Malia said in anger. "So will I" Allison said coldly. She had enough of her grandfather messing things up for every one of her friends. Chris looked amongst the gathered people but said nothing. He too was very angry at his father.


	106. 6-14

_**Aaron**_ _ **enters the morgue, opens the drawer containing the faceless bloody lump of a body, opens his mouth and spews spiders onto it.**_

"That will never be a not disgusting thing" Lydia gagged. "Drama queen" Stiles rolled his eyes and got a pillow on the face for it.

 _ **The insects quickly burrow into the skinless lump as Aaron collapses on the floor. After a moment, the faceless rises to a sitting position.**_

"Necromancy!" Corey hissed. "I'd say Aracnomancy" Mason mumbled. "Honestly I'm surprised they even came to those conclusions so fast and made up another word those words to say anything right now" Stiles mumbled to Lydia who had expected Stiles to say something.

 _ **Quinn**_ _ **has a flat tire. She soon finds herself surrounded by large men. One of them removes an arrow from the tire and asks if she's ever seen anything like it before. They move to attack her. She bears her fangs and fights back, incapacitating all of the men.**_

"Good work" Laura cheered. Chris shook his head fondly as Allison joined in the cheers.

 _ **A Beacon County Sheriff's vehicle pulls up. Quinn is relieved to see Deputy Vargas (Maria Russell), but the officer pulls her service weapon and fires at the young woman.**_

"Great! Even the police have turned on them" Noah groaned. "They are all afraid. What did you expect?" Melissa sighed.

 _ **Liam is hiding under the covers of his bed pretending to be sick. He claims he has the flu or pneumonia, but Scott points out that werewolves can't get pneumonia and insists that Liam must to go to school.**_

"There goes that excuse" Liam sighed.

 _ **He doesn't want to go outside because so many people saw him transform in the middle of the street. Scott says he should pretend nothing happened. He uses the analogy of Superman, Spiderman, and Captain America maintaining their secret identities. Liam correctly points out that the latter doesn't have a secret identity.**_

"Stop with the negativity damnit" Stiles groaned. "Stiles shush" Lydia patted his hand.

 _ **Everyone knows Captain America is Steve Rodgers and they love him. Liam says everyone hates them even though they are trying to save their lives. Scott says in order to save lives, Liam has to get up and go to school. Liam feels**_ _ **Brett**_ _ **and**_ _ **Lori**_ _ **died because of his mistake. Scott says that if Liam wants to save more of his friends from the same fate, he will go to school.**_

"Wise words McCall Sensei" Peter said calmly. "What?" Scott looked questioningly at Peter but he just waved him off.

 _ **Liam arrives at school. People stare. People whisper. Mason says everything will be fine but Corey points out that two sophomore members of the Lacrosse team were present when Liam wolfed out in the road. Everyone there had a clear view of the werewolf. Liam wants to leave but Mason says he has to stay and convince everyone he's just a regular kid. Scott explains to**_ _ **Chris Argent**_ _ **that Brett and Lori were murdered. They now know they're not dealing with an amateur hunter and that**_ _ **Gerard**_ _ **is helping. Chris says this is his fault for letting his father go, but Lydia says there's nothing he could have done. Malia pipes up and says Chris could have killed Gerard. Lydia says they're not executioners but Malia says they are when it comes to war.**_

"I hate to say this but she is right" Stiles sighed. "Stiles!" Claudia and Noah exclaimed. "He is right. It's either be killed or kill. Even if Stiles is human, they would kill just because he is associating with us" Laura said. The STilinski couple weren't happy but they were now thinking on this certain topic.

 _ **With war on the horizon, Chris and Scott want a peace summit with Gerard. Lydia reminds them that the last summit Gerard attended ended with the old hunter killing his own men and a bunch of werewolves and blinding Deucalion. Chris offers to approach Gerard believing his father won't kill him.**_

"I don't think you should go dad" Allison mumbled. "I'll be fine" Chris smiled. Gerard might be a psychopath, but he was family.

 _ **Chris says the terms of the negotiations might be steep and Scott needs to figure out how much he's willing to give up and how far he's willing to go to stop a war. The entire lacrosse team is waiting in the locker room when Liam arrives. They say they're voting him out as Team Captain because of "what" he is.**_ _ **Nolan**_ _ **steps to Liam whose eyes flash yellow dimly for a second. Coach exits his office and demands to know what the gathering is all about. Liam steps up and explains that his grades are suffering and he needs to step aside as team captain. He explains that they've voted Nolan to replace him. Coach is thrilled by the news, praising Nolan's skills and leadership qualities despite the fact he has no ideas who Nolan is.**_

Claudia shook her head with fondness. Bobby is still the same person she knew back in school.

 _ **Chris meets his father in a warehouse stacked to the ceiling with weapons. Chris lays out his plan for a meeting. Gerard says Scott should come himself. Gerard reminds his son that the last bullet the old man took came from Chris. He's not interested in peace. He says Scott should run.**_

"Well that went well" Chris sighed. "At least he didn't kill you" Allison pointed out with a smile. "This time" Chris thought to himself.

 _ **Corey has been spying on Nolan and**_ _ **Gabe**_ _ **. They plan to make Liam shift in front of everyone to prove he's a monster. Liam hears Nolan approaching. He ducks into the guidance office to hide. He tells**_ _ **Tamora Monroe**_ _ **that he's come to talk. She probes him for information about who is harassing him with no luck. He notices a book on the supernatural on a nearby desk in her office. He then sees the claw marks on her neck. She claims she got them from a tree branch while running in the woods. Liam presses further wanting to know from whom she was running. Her answers, combined with the book, cause him to realize that Monroe is the hunter who pursued Brett to his death. She says she can't help him unless he tells her who is harassing him, so Liam leaves.**_

"No place is safe anymore" Liam sighed. "We'll deal with this" Scott said firmly and Liam sighed again.

 _ **Chris Argent tells**_ _ **Melissa McCall**_ _ **that Scott needs to leave**_ _ **Beacon Hills**_ _ **immediately. Argent says Gerard wants supernatural genocide. He says Gerard blames Scott for killing half his family and turning his daughter into a monster while also turning his only son against him. Melissa balks at telling Scott to give up. She's never told him to run and hide and she's not going to start now. Chris reminds her of the last time Scott died and how she had to bring him back to life and questions if Scott might not come back from this fight.**_

"oooh low blow dad" Allison winced. "It's the truth" Chris said grimly.

 _ **Scott arrives at the**_ _ **McCall House**_ _ **. He says there may not need to be a fight since they now know, thanks to Liam, that Tamora Monroe is the new hunter.**_ _ **Jordan Parrish**_ _ **becomes increasingly scared as he looks at crime scene photos of**_ _ **Halwyn**_ _ **on his desk. The images show the**_ _ **Hellhound**_ _ **lying dead in the woods with deep slashes across his torso and a single bullet hole in his forehead. A brief glimpse of the police report shows "blood loss, decreased brain … Gun Shot wound to Head. Deep Lacerations …" Parrish's fear reaches its peak when he sees the bloody faceless lump inside the Sheriff's station. One moment it's there, the next it is gone. Then it's back in a different location. He is panting as he opens the door to see it standing on the other side. He draws his service weapon but the Sheriff snatches it from his hand.**_

"This is getting out of hand" Parrish sighed, pulling at his hair slightly. "We'll get through this" Scott said firmly again. Parrish looked up at the young alpha and just sighed.

 _ **Tamora Monroe reports to the principal's office expecting to find**_ _ **Natalie Martin**_ _ **. Instead, Lydia is waiting for her. Lydia closes the door and broaches the subject of coexistence between supernaturals and humans. Monroe says that's a challenge because people like Lydia aren't like regular humans. Lydia says highlighting differences is where coexistence breaks down. Lydia repeats the request for a peace summit but Monroe refuses and makes to leave. Lydia grabs her arm but quickly lets it go. Monroe is fascinated. She questions if Lydia's powers work through touch. Lydia says no. Monroe wants to know how the banshee knows who will be the next to die. Lydia says no one has to die if Monroe will just meet with Scott. The counselor apparently agrees.**_

"It's a trap" Stiles says through narrowed eyes. "Probably" Lydia sighs.

 _ **Malia believes the meeting, alone in the middle of the tunnels with a werewolf hunter, is a trap.**_

"It becomes more obvious when she puts it like that" Scott snorts.

 _ **Scott says he has no choice because people will continue to die if he doesn't stop them. He says if anything happened to him, the rest of**_ _ **his pack**_ _ **would be able to defeat the hunters without him. Malia, while still unable to put her feelings into words, makes it clear that she's not worried about that, she's worried about being without him. He says they need to get Monroe to trust them so he's going alone. Mason is shocked that the guidance counselor is a werewolf hunter saying he's never asking for guidance again. Liam grabs an empty chair next to another student at one of the lab stations in**_ _ **Mrs. Finch**_ _ **'s AP Biology class. Corey and Mason sit at the station behind him. The girl next to Liam promptly gets up and moves to another station.**_

"It's like I have the plague or something" Liam groaned. "To them you do" Theo pointed out.

 _ **Seeing that Liam is alone, Finch demands someone (other than Mason and Corey) partner with him. She says if someone doesn't volunteer, she'll fail the whole class on the lab assignment. None of the other students are willing to move. She says Liam will have to work alone while she considers if the threat to fail everyone was a bluff or not. Liam whispers to Corey and Mason that Ms. Finch is making things worse. Corey says there's more bad news, the entire lacrosse team is blocking the exits so Gabe and Nolan can force Liam to transform in front of everyone.**_

"Honestly" Hayden growled. "Hey. I'll be okay" Liam said with a small smile holding her hand. Hayden looked at him for a good minute before she relaxed again.

 _ **Melissa leads**_ _ **Noah Stilinski**_ _ **and Deputy Parrish into the morgue. They've come to check on the body that Parrish believes he saw at the Sheriff's Station. Melissa says it couldn't have because it was locked in a drawer, has no DNA and no skin or face. She describes the fear she and Chris felt trying to get a tissue sample but says it never moved. She opens the drawer; the body is gone. In the tunnel, Scott arrives to find Monroe flanked by two armed hunters and a third hunter with a shock stick taser in the tunnel behind him.**_

"Called it" Stiles declared. "We never said no" Scott rolled his eyes.

 _ **With Corey camouflaging Liam with invisibility, Mason attempts to find an exit that is not blocked by angry looking lacrosse players. He fails. Nolan confronts Mason and blows a handful of powder at him. As the powder lands on the invisible boys, it reveals their shapes and they are exposed. Gabe grabs Liam and throws him to the floor.**_

Hayden now looked extremely livid. The hand on hers was probably the only thing holding her back.

 _ **Gerard joins the party in the tunnel as Scott tries to reason with Monroe. He says she shouldn't follow the old man because he'll lead her off a cliff. Gerard demurs and says he's acting only as an advisor and indicates that Monroe is in charge. Monroe says she wants to see a werewolf beg for peace. Scott immediately agrees in hopes of avoiding any more killing and promoting peace. Monroe believes Scott only cares about the death in Beacon Hills now because it's the supernaturals who are suffering. Scott offers to take everyone and leave Beacon Hills. Monroe says they'll follow and kill them. Scott points out that his pack has been protecting humans. Gerard says he's lying and he just want's Monroe to be afraid.**_

The Argents narrow their eyes in anger.

 _ **Monroe relates the story of her first brush with the supernatural. She was one of the victims of**_ _ **La Bête du Gévaudan**_ _ **who ended up piled up in the school bus with several other victims as a trap the Beast set for Parrish's hellhound. Monroe was injured by not dead and hid under a corpse of a fellow teacher as the two supernatural creatures fought outside. She was found by Sheriff Stilinski who called for an ambulance. She wonders if Scott even thought to check if anyone on the bus was still alive. He says he didn't know. She says he didn't care. She believes they allowed people to die so they could keep their secret and carry on as if nothing ever happened.**_

"That's absolute bullshit" Stiles growled. "Not to her" Scott sighed. He had tried his best to save everyone but he wasn't superman or something.

 _ **She then threatens him saying he shouldn't have come alone. Malia shouts that he didn't come alone. She then takes out the hunter with the taser stick. Lydia is with her and they stand a few feet behind Scott. Parrish tells the sheriff that he's checked around and no one else has reported the faceless lump running around. They speculate if it is the thing that came out of the**_ _ **Wild Hunt**_ _ **when the McCall Pack rescued**_ _ **Stiles**_ _ **back in the spring. Parrish says maybe it's just part of it, another thing that causes fear. They think perhaps its goal is for the humans to end up like the rats and wolves, so terrified that they tear each other apart. Nolan and Gabe throw Liam into a classroom and start beating and kicking him.**_

Hayden snarled.

 _ **He struggles not to transform as they punch him again and again. Mason tries to intervene but is held back by the crowd of watching students. Liam's face is bloody and bruised. His eyes glow for just a second, but he maintains his cool much to the newbie hunters surprise. Mrs. Finch walks in and sees what's going on. Mason implores her to intervene, but she moves away saying that "Sometimes it's best to let them work things out on their own."**_

"That fucking whore!" Hayden screams as she struggles against the grip Liam had on her. "How could she let this happen" Corey muttered in horror. "She is afraid" Scott said in a tone of pure disgust.

 _ **Liam recites his mantra and maintains his composure as the beating becomes more intense with a knee to the face from Gabe. Finally**_ _ **Coach Finstock**_ _ **bursts in and grabs Nolan and Gabe and throws them into the hall. He tells them to get to the principal's office as he checks on Liam. Corey and Mason help him to his feet.**_

"Thank God for coach" Mason sighed in relief. "I'm okay. I'll heal" Liam said soothingly to the girl on his lap who was way beyond pissed and had tears in her eyes.

 _ **Later, Mason helps Liam to his car. He says his friend took the beating because he blames himself for Brett and Lori getting killed by the hunters. Liam says he's right. He blames Monroe. Mason points out that everyone is now on the side of the hunters and the whole reason Gabe and Nolan tried to make Liam shift was to show everyone the enemy. In the tunnel, Scott is still trying to make peace as Monroe and the rest point guns at the pack. Malia growls and Gerard says Scott "should control his beta" lest she get them all killed. Lydia says they're not the enemy and tries to explain about the larger issue causing the unreasoning fear in Beacon Hills. Monroe says she doubts there's anything more dangerous than the**_ _ **Wendigo**_ _ **,**_ _ **Oni**_ _ **,**_ _ **Werecoyote**_ _ **and the**_ _ **Darach**_ _ **human sacrifices that she's been made aware of.**_

"I think the ghosts riders would like to differ" Stiles grumbled. "And whatever this is" Lydia added.

 _ **Scott says they tried to stop it but Monroe counters that people still died while they were "trying." She says 12 people were killed by the Darach. In fact, one of the hunters in the tunnel with her lost a son while the other man's brother was a deputy who was gutted and torn apart. She scoffs that the official report read "animal attack" as the cause of death. Scott attempts to reason with them about the fear beast that escaped the wild hunt. Lydia realizes that the faceless corpse is in the tunnel with them and is amplifying their fear. The hunters spin around and see it. They open fire wildly. Monroe tries to gain control and tells her men to stop shooting. They ignore her. Malia sees the bloody lump behind them in the tunnel and runs at with claws out. She swings but there's nothing there. A flare drops from a grate above to the tunnel floor. Parrish jumps down after it his eyes glow orange and he growls. One of the hunters opens fire but the deputy tosses him into the tunnel wall. He makes a beeline for the lump and shoves the still-lit flare into it. Both forms are consumed in flames. The fireball passes and tunnel darkens and Scott rushes to help Parrish to his feet. The hunters are gone and the lump lies on the tunnel floor severely scorched. Malia points out that Monroe didn't come to negotiate and that Scott did everything he could. Scott says there's something else he can try. Back at Gerard's HQ, Monroe questions him about the fear beast. In lieu of an explanation, he scapegoats the supernaturals saying the creature is there because the town is overrun. She believes she failed. He says she gave the people of Beacon Hills what they've always needed – a voice against the supernaturals. He says, as a victim herself, Monroe makes the perfect messenger. She asks what that message is and he says "That this world belongs to us."**_

"You don't own the world jackass!" Allison snarled. Chris growled slightly and made fists out of his hands.

 _ **Scott arrives home to find Quinn waiting in his kitchen. She is badly injured. Malia wants to know if a hunter hurt her. Quinn says it was a deputy.**_

"I bet that would go down well with dad" Stiles snorted.


	107. 6-15

_**At Gerard's hunter HQ, two young werewolves -**_ _ **Jiang**_ _ **and**_ _ **Tierney**_ _ **and**_ _ **Theo**_ _ **are tied to a metal scissor gate while former Eichen House orderly**_ _ **Schrader**_ _ **pokes them with a high-voltage taser stick.**_

"On the bright side you're not dead" Maon pointed out. "Yeah" Theo said absently, taking note of the faces he is going to rip off once he is out of here.

 _ **The two new werewolves keep telling him they'll never give him any information and aren't afraid to die, but Schrader says he doesn't have any questions for them. Theo says he's not with them and will cooperate in any way necessary.**_

"Typical" Stiles rolled his eyes. "He could also be playing him" Lydia said. Stiles shrugged, maybe he was.

 _ **Schrader throws a bucket of water on them and then electrifies the entire gate. Theo tries to reason with Schrader, offering again to help him, but Schrader continues to shock them. Theo says if they make it out alive he'll kill the werewolves himself.**_

"Dude!" Liam turned to the guy. "Obvious ploy" Theo muttered with a roll of his eyes.

 _ **Then, realizing that the electricity is beginning to melt through the plastic handcuffs holding the prisoners to the gate. He begins to taunt Schrader, reminding him of his sadistic treatment of the patients at Eichen House and calling him a psycho and a freak. Schrader dials the electricity up to 11. The surge burns through the cuffs and Theo breaks free. He easily incapacitates Schrader and straps him to the metal gate. Theo turns to leave the other two werewolves to their own devices. They say they want to get a "couple hundred miles" away from Beacon Hills and decide to steal the former orderly's car.**_

"Aww aren't you being nice" Hayden smirked at the chimera who rolled his eyes.

 _ **Theo notices a pack symbol tattoo on the young girl's arm. It's represents stacked rocks and marks her as part of**_ _ **Satomi**_ _ **'s pack. The young man reveals that Satomi is now dead and the rest of the pack either dead or scattered.**_

"Satomi is dead!?" Peter looked shocked. "Probably saved as much of her pack as possible from the hunters" Malia growled.

 _ **Theo says he doesn't care but suggests they find Scott McCall because the True Alpha has a "thing for taking in strays." They're very excited by the prospect of finding Scott and urge Theo to help them. He offers to in exchange for the keys to Schrader's car. As they leave, Theo dials the electricity on the gate up to 11 again and Schrader screams in pain as the voltage courses through his body.**_

"Serves him right" Malia muttered. The looked on in satisfaction.

 _ **Later,**_ _ **Sheriff Stilinski**_ _ **arrives in a parking lot and arrests Theo and the strays. He says the charge is murder.**_

"Well shit" Stiles muttered. Noah sighed, he is probably trying to protect them even without knowing that his department was compromised.

 _ **An orderly opens the gate to the special ward at**_ _ **Eichen House**_ _ **to allow**_ _ **Dr. Deaton**_ _ **inside. He quickly closes it behind the vet claiming he'll go no further. Deaton asks if he'll need a weapon. The orderly says they stopped allowing them in this part of the hospital because people tended to kill themselves after only thirty seconds of exposure to whatever is down there.**_

"And he still goes in" Scott shook his head. "Typical Deaton" Talia said with a smile.

 _ **Alan makes it only a few feet down the corridor before he is struck with overwhelming dread. He manages to fight through it and into the cell**_ _ **Halwyn**_ _ **called home for more than a hundred years. Still terrified, he manages to find a crack in the wall and begins prying at the plaster and underlying stone. After about 35 seconds he emerges from the cell with a piece of stone with something carved into it. In the holding cell at the Sheriff's station, Theo loudly professes his innocence and then turns on the two young werewolves demanding to know who they killed and which one did the killing. At first, they stay quiet but he persists, and, eventually, the young man, begins to spill his guts. He says they didn't have a choice because the hunters came after them and killed their pack. After this confession, Theo turns his face to the security camera and asks, "We good?" Sheriff Stilinski, watching a monitor nods to**_ _ **Deputy Parrish**_ _ **who heads over and releases Theo.**_

"Well maybe it was self-protection" Lydia suggested. "Only their eyes can tell" Scott muttered.

 _ **Scott's Pack**_ _ **with Quinn in tow insists the Sheriff release the two werewolves arguing that they killed hunters in self-defense. The Sheriff refuses saying he has to follow the legal process. Scott argues it's not safe but the Sheriff insists his station may be the safest spot in town.**_

"Doubt it" Stiles mumbled and Lydia nodded with him.

 _ **Lydia brings up**_ _ **Stiles**_ _ **and questions if he would agree with his father. Malia points out that it was a deputy that shot Quinn. The Sheriff doesn't believe that, saying he knows and trusts all of his deputies well enough to recognize if one of them were a hunter. Liam says the supernatural fear thing is changing people and Scott says the sheriff can't protect his prisoners from hunters if they're already on the inside. Quinn explains that she saw a police car, flashing lights, a badge, and a gun just before she was shot in the head. The sheriff claims there are holes in her story. Parrish is processing Theo's release when the**_ _ **chimera**_ _ **hears hunters surrounding the building outside.**_

"Oh this is bad" Stiles sucks in a breath. "Understatement" Liam muttered.

 _ **The sheriff is still arguing to keep the pair in custody when bright lights flash on outside the station.**_ _ **Tamora Monroe**_ _ **and a dozen well-armed hunters are waiting there.**_

"Great! Gerard gave them better toys" Allison groaned.

 _ **The sheriff orders all his officers to put their weapons away and get away from the windows. He disarms himself and prepares to go outside to seek a peaceful resolution. Parrish wants to go with him but Noah orders him to check the exits to see if they're completely surrounded and tells him to watch his fellow officers to make sure they're all on the same side.**_

"At least you're suspecting it now" Claudia mumbled. "Yeah but it may be too late for the two" Noah sighs.

 _ **He and Monroe face off. The hunters brandish their weapons, cocking shotguns. Malia is suddenly panicked. She demands that they all get the hell out of the station. Scott urges her to give Stilinski a chance to negotiate. Liam questions how they could get Jiang and Tierney out. Malia is having none of it. She says, "Screw them!" Theo enters. Liam offers to kill him. Malia says to leave him and, still panicked, insists they leave. Quinn goes off on the werecoyote yelling, "We're not going anywhere. Don't you get it? We're trapped. They have all of the windows and doors covered. We're going to die in here!" Theo offers to kill her. Malia screams for him to "Shut up!" Scott holds Malia's hand and finds that she's shaking. Lydia points out that there are only a dozen hunters and that they can "take them." Liam again points out that they need to save Jiang and Tierney because they're the last of Satomi's pack. Scott agrees that they'll escape and take the two young werewolves with them.**_

"From the looks of it, the thing is here" Hayden says through gritted teeth. "This just got way worse" Liam groaned.

 _ **Corey is in the school library trying to figure out what came out of the**_ _ **Wild Hunt**_ _ **when they all escaped back in the spring. Mason urges him to go back to his math homework saying "figuring out stuff is my thing." His boyfriend says he needs a thing too but Mason points out that Corey has the "invisibility thing," which is a good thing. Corey feels guilty for just standing by as Liam got his ass kicked. Mason says Liam healed but Corey points out that Mason would not if he were the target next time.**_

"You two make a good couple" Laura said to try and ease a bit of the pressure in the room. It didn't work.

 _ **Corey is worried about the coming war between supernaturals and humans. He says he's pretty sure supernaturals will win. He worries about what that means for his love.**_

"He is our friend and under my protection. No one can or will harm him" Scott said firmly. Corey was about to retort to this but realized something. Scott could very well be the last Alpha in Beacon Hills and that no other wolves would dare piss him off.

 _ **Mason takes charge of the conversation. He says the whole thing is about fear and they need to find what's causing it. They decide to start at the beginning with the first manifestation of the uncontrollable fear, the wolves in the woods. The sheriff attempts to reason with Monroe saying that the judicial system will take care of the two murder suspects. She scoffs that "Justice is about fairness" and there's nothing fair about a werewolf versus a human.**_ _ **Gabe**_ _ **and Nolan are watching nearby. The sheriff says if she thinks he's handing two kids over to a lynch mob, it'll be a short conversation. Liam keys the jail cell open and tells Jiang and Tierney that he's getting them out. He rushes out of the room, but they don't follow. He returns to see why they're still in the cell. They say they can hear the hunters outside. Liam says their choice is to either come with him or be locked in a cell if they hunters get inside. They follow him out.**_

"Nicely worded" Hayden said with a smile. "Just told them what they needed to know" Liam smiled back.

 _ **Outside, Monroe uses the description of a "subduction zone" where two tectonic plates crash into one another as an analogy of their current situation. She says either the pressure of the crash is relieved in small bursts of energy or one massively destructive earthquake. She says they need to release the pressure of the current situation. He balks once again at handing over his prisoners to be murdered. Monroe says she's the only thing stopping the hunters from storming the station. She says all the sheriff has to do is hand over Jiang and Tierney to avoid a bloodbath. Scott's Pack and Theo prepare to storm outside. The sheriff comes back in and orders them to stop. Lydia assures him that she can get through the hunters, but he insists they get back from the windows and orders Parrish to return Jiang and Tierney to their cell. The Sheriff says Monroe has given them a deadline of midnight to hand over the two young werewolves. The deputies and Scott's Pack prepare for a siege by moving metal desks and cabinets in front of the doors and windows. Deputies load their weapons as the Sheriff and Parrish discuss the pros and cons of calling for outside help. Any person they call risks exposing Scott and the other supernaturals, and, if backup arrived and saw werewolves, they wouldn't know the good guys from the bad. They also fear that one of their deputies is a secret hunter. The**_ _ **hunters**_ _ **are apparently jamming the cell phone signals around the Sheriff's office. The department two-way radio also doesn't work. Lydia tells Quinn that there's not really a jammer that could do that suggesting someone inside the station sabotaged it. Suddenly the power goes out.**_

"And here comes the other shoe" Stiles groaned.

 _ **Fear begins to grip some of the others. Deputy Morrow stands paralyzed looking toward the lights outside until the Sheriff catches her attention and orders her back. Another deputy throws**_ _ **Nolan**_ _ **to the floor. She holds a pair of bolt cutters and implies that Nolan cut the power. Liam is incensed. He says Nolan is a liar and is sick in the head. Nolan begs to stay because if he returns to Monroe, "She'll know I screwed up." The Sheriff tells Parrish to lock him. The deputy handcuffs him to the bench outside the cell where Jiang and Tierney are incarcerated. Nolan immediately begins working on releasing himself from the cuffs.**_

"Okay why would you put the hunter with its preys?" Stiles looks at his dad. "He is chained" Noah pointed out. "And what if that was the plan? To get caught so he could ice them both" Stiles added. Noah had no answer to this because that was a very clever idea. The hunters knew how to play on their weak links and this would be a good way to do it.

 _ **Theo wants out. He tells Liam that nothing will get the hunters to just leave and they should hand over the two werewolves they want if Liam doesn't want to watch his whole pack die. It's clear that Liam wants to save Jiang and Tierney to somehow make up for his inability to save Brett and Lori. Theo scoffs at the idea saying, "Your dead friends are dead, and they're going to stay dead no matter what you do." Liam punches Theo hard in the face and leaves to look at the surveillance feed from the jail cell. He sees Nolan get to his feet. Jiang knows Nolan. Jiang says he almost didn't recognize Nolan who points out that it's been five years since they've seen each other. The young hunter says a lot can change in that time pointing out that the last time he saw his former friend, Jiang was human. Jiang says he's still human. Nolan changes the subject and asks if Jiang actually killed the two hunters. Jiang says they killed his family. Nolan corrects him and says, "Don't you mean**_ _ **your pack**_ _ **?"**_

"It's the same thing" Laura growled. "Not to humans it isn't" Derek shook his head.

 _ **Someone throws a smoke grenade inside the main lobby of the Sheriff's Station. Parrish notices and yells for everyone to get down just before it explodes with bright flash of light and an ear-blasting bang. Nolan has freed himself and approaches the cell. He says he didn't know it would be his old friend, but Tierney points out that Nolan is going to kill them anyway. Nolan says he'll do what he has to and lifts a vial of what appears to be**_ _ **Purple Wolfsbane**_ _ **liquid. Liam rushes in and incapacitates the young hunter and snatches away the deadly poison.**_

"We were lucky Liam saw the feed" Stiles said grimly. Noah nodded his head and sighed at his blunder. "You were under a lot of pressure" Claudia whispered, patting the back of his hand.

 _ **In the lobby, as the smoke begins to clear, Scott realizes it was a distraction for something else the hunters were doing. Noah is incensed because Monroe said they had until midnight. Parrish says the grenade came from inside the station. Deputy Vargas is holding the pin from the grenade as she watches the chaos.**_

The police officers in the room looked seriously pissed off at this point.

 _ **Liam brings Nolan in and shows Scott the wolfsbane liquid claiming Nolan was trying to kill them. He also says Scott needs to look at the young werewolves' eyes. Scott follows him to the cell and demands, - with a loud roar and a flash of his red eyes - that Jiang and Tierney show their eyes. They glow blue indicating they've killed an innocent.**_

"I hoped it was self-defense" Scott closed his eyes tightly. "You tried helping them" Allison said soothingly.

 _ **Scott interrogates the pair about what went down with Satomi's pack. Jiang says Satomi tried to talk to them as they killed almost her entire pack. Only he and Tierney were left, hiding in a storm drain, when the hunters killed Satomi. Tierney says their Alpha died so that they could keep running. One day, they decided to stop running and started hunting the hunters instead. They used public records to track down suspected hunters and killed them, but Scott says they didn't actually kill the hunters who killed their pack. Liam reiterates that they can't kill innocent people but Tierney counters that none of "them are more innocent than us." Scott says he doesn't know what they'll do with the pair.**_

"Save them" Allison looked at his boyfriend. "After that tell them to leave town" she added firmly when Scott met her eyes.

 _ **Parrish tells a fellow deputy to watch Nolan after he handcuffs the boy to the chair. Once Parrish leaves, the other deputy no longer sees Nolan. Instead, the faceless bloody lump is in the boy's place.**_

"IS Nolan?" Liam started but was interrupted by Lydia. "Probably a hallucination" she said with a shake of her head.

 _ **Outside, Tamora Monroe offers encouraging words as Gabe aims a crossbow at the station. He says Gerard taught him to inhale, breathe out slowly, and fire right before you run out of breath. Gabe wonders how he's supposed to kill anyone inside the station from outside. Monroe says the point isn't to kill anyone, it's to send a message. Scott tells the sheriff that he can't save Jiang and Tierney from their fates because they've killed innocent people. Noah says it doesn't matter because in war you have to kill people and they won't always be guilty or innocent. In war, there's only your side and the other side.**_

"Remember those words" Melissa said firmly. She might not like it but at this point it was killed or be killed.

 _ **Gabe's arrow breaks the window and sticks into a wooden post in the lobby of the station. People inside panic a bit. Malia pulls it free from the wood and releases a piece of fabric. It's a bloodstained number seven on a green background. It's Brett's number. Lydia says the hunters are trying to rattle them. Theo says it's working. Deputy Morrow screams at the sight of one of her fellow officers hanging by the neck from a rafter. The sheriff and Parrish rush to cut him down. Nolan says he didn't do anything, the officer just lost it. Morrow begins to panic, removes here service weapon from her holster and aims it at her own head. Outside, Monroe and the Hunters hear the shot and turn to look. Liam hustles Nolan into the jail cell and locks the door to keep him safe. Gabe informs Monroe that they're now 10 minutes till midnight. Lydia examines the two dead deputies. She says their suicides weren't just panic. She says "it" is in there with them. The sheriff says he's already got two bodies and he's not giving Monroe two more. This gives Scott an idea. They decide to substitute the dead deputies for Jiang and Tierney since Monroe never actually saw or spoke with them. The sheriff fires two more shots to simulate killing someone. Then they load up two body bags and present them to Monroe. He says the werewolves tried to run and harm deputies along the way so they killed them. She's not convinced and demands to see their pack tattoos. Just as both sides brace for a fight,**_ _ **Agent McCall**_ _ **shows up and calms everybody down. Agent McCall says he's there to make sure no one else dies.**_

"Oh thank god" Scott sighs in relief. He has never been this happy to see his father.

 _ **Corey and Mason get caught after breaking into the vet clinic to find the body of one of the dead wolves. Deaton is cool about it but says they should have knocked. He brings out the corpse of one of the wolves and they examine it for anything the fear creature might have left behind. Deaton realizes they're looking for whatever came out of the Wild Hunt and is intrigued that they believe it started with the wolf because he had the same thought. Deaton says his examination showed nothing about the creature, so he started looking for more information on Halwyn since he's the one who imprisoned it. He reveals the piece of etched stone he found at Eichen House. He says it appears to be a dead end but Corey says there's another side to the picture. He shifts to invisibility and his vision shifts to see the same frequency that showed him the Ghost Riders and the portal to the Wild Hunt. Glowing green lines appear on the stone, mirroring the etched part. Corey reappears and traces out the lines only he could see.**_

"See you are useful" Mason said with a smile which Corey returned.

 _ **Deaton recognizes it at once. He explains that "It is an ancient shapeshifter, a creature of disharmony. It can turn neighbor against neighbor sowing the seeds of discord and hate. It doesn't need fangs. It doesn't need claws. It uses something far more sinister. When paranoia turns to anger, anger turns to violence, entire communities tear themselves apart. The creature feeds off the fear and grows more powerful." He says it's called the**_ _ **Anuk-Ite**_ _ **. Mason says if they know what it is then they can stop it. Deaton is unsure. He says Anuk-ite is also sometimes called Double Face. One face is beautiful and the other is hideous.**_

"So the faceless lump is the ugly part. Which means it's only half as strong as the real thing or much less" Stiles rubbed his temples. "This is just getting worse and worse every time" Lydia bites her lips.

 _ **Mason questions if the thing has two faces or is it two people? Deaton says two faces could mean two creatures and when they combine they would be unstoppable. Agent McCall of the FBI says Scott and his friends are required to leave Beacon Hills. The pack thinks it's a terrible idea but the hunters agreed to it and McCall senior believes de-escalation is the best option. He reveals that Sheriff Stilinski called him for help for just that reason. Scott agrees that everyone will leave. With the hunters clear out from the Sheriff's Station still surrounding the sheriff's station, Scott and his friends exit. Nolan returns to Gabe's side. Agent McCall leads Jiang and Tierney to a waiting prisoner transport van and loads them inside. Tierney nods to Scott as the door closes and the van drives away.**_

"They're gonna die aren't they" Corey mumbled. "Yeah" Theo sighed. "But the FBI has them" Liam pointed out. "Only Scott's father is the FBI here. The drivers? Not so much" Stiles added silencing the room/

 _ **Later in Scott's room, his father explains that them leaving is the best thing. Scott kind of ignores him and continues packing. The Agent says he'd rather Scott be mad at him and leave the state than to have to watch him die. Scott says he's not mad and understands why. Malia arrives and Rafael excuses himself to head downstairs. Malia grabs Scott's hand. He says something lame about how she could have grabbed one of his suitcase bags. She does pick up a bag and they smile at each other.**_

"Sappy" Peter mumbled then groaned when his daughter punched him in the nose.

 _ **A similar, but more spirited exchange is going on in the locker room at school. Mason is pissed that Corey and the rest are leaving because they'll be handing Beacon Hills over to the hunters. Corey explains that Scott and Stilinski believe it's the only way. Mason begs to come with him so he can help figure things out and protect him. Corey says this time he'll protect Mason. The prison transport pulls into a deserted portion of the town's warehouse district. The driver gets out, opens the back and kills both Jiang and Tierney with a shotgun. He closes the doors and walks away.**_

Scott closes his eyes and breathes to calm himself. He let more people down big time.

 _ **In her office at school, Nolan apologizes to Monroe for failing her. She explains that the wolves didn't get away and were "taken care of." She promises it will be easier for him to kill next time. Nolan assures her that he won't fail again. She says she's glad to hear it but still needs him to prove it. Mason and**_ _ **Sydney**_ _ **are at the blackboard in math class. Mason can't concentrate. He looks from the blank board, down at his book, then back at the board in front of him. The words "Animal Clinic" are now printed there. He turns around to the class. When he turns back, the word "NOW" is underlined on the board. He drops his book and exits.**_

"That was kinda creepy to be honest" Mason muttered. "Well I am like a ghost so that is normal for me" Corey chuckled.

 _ **Sydney looks after him and when she looks back to the blackboard a smiley face has appeared in the middle of her math problem.**_

"You had to didn't you?" Mason snorted.

 _ **Mason arrives at the clinic and finds Corey. He's a little mad that his boyfriend lied to him but the rest of the pack is there too and reveal that this was their plan all along. They needed everyone to be absolutely sure that they were gone. Now the plan is to fight back.**_

"Double crosses everywhere" Rafael shook his head in amusement.


	108. 6-16

_**The students at**_ _ **Beacon Hills High School**_ _ **seem to have suffered a rash of hand injuries. All are wearing bloody white bandages on their hands. Edgar moves quickly but nervously down the hallway and into the library. He's cornered by**_ _ **Aaron**_ _ **and**_ _ **Gabe**_ _ **who grab him and cut his hand with a scalpel. Aaron says everybody has done it.**_

"It sounds like he is inviting him to take drugs or something" Stiles rubbed his face.

 _ **Edgar protests that he's "not one of them," but Aaron cuts his hand anyway. He runs from the library. Aaron calls Gabe off and says he'll go after Edgar himself. The other students do their best to ignore what's happening. In the locker room, Edgar washes the blood from his hand, and there is no sign of injury. Aaron is suddenly behind him. He demands to know what Edgar is. The boy's eyes flash yellow, and he says he's a werecoyote, his whole family too.**_

"There is a whole family of werecoyote in Beacon Hills?" Scott asked while Malia perked up. "Probably moved in later" Derek said.

 _ **Aaron wants to know what "else" he is, saying he's looking for someone who "can do more than just shift, someone like me." He grabs Edgar's wrist, and something under the skin moves down Aaron's arm and into Edgar's. The veins of his arm turn a dark red as whatever is in him crawls up the arm, into his neck and head.**_

"That looks weird" Liam blinked. "Weird? You mean that veins turning dark red while something crawls p your arm is not weird?" Hayden said with a roll of her eyes. "Shut up" Liam mumbled blushing slightly.

 _ **FBI**_ _ **Agent McCall**_ _ **is questioning**_ _ **Nolan**_ _ **in Tamora Monroe's office. McCall says that Jiang and Tierney escaped police custody "last night." Monroe adds that they injured a deputy, but McCall says he's heard the officer's wounds were self-inflicted. McCall wants to know if Jiang's been in touch with Nolan since they knew each other. Nolan explains that they're no longer friends. Seeing the student is in distress, Monroe ends the interview. She chides the agent for harassing a student. He counters that she put a gun in his hand. She says she's teaching him how to protect himself. He says Nolan isn't in danger, the missing Jiang and Tierney are. She reminds him that the missing pair are the real killers. She then speculates that, because McCall doesn't have FBI backup, his bosses either don't believe there's a problem, or he hasn't told them "exactly what you're investigating."**_

"Probably the later which is for the best" Peter waved his hand dismissively. "Why the best?" Laura asked. "Because if they come here, they would face the effects of the thing and then who knows what they would do" Peter explained.

 _ **Nolan runs to the locker room to catch his breath. He ears Edgar moaning for help. He finds the other boy laying on his back. There are small moving bumps under his skin. Suddenly his eyes, nose, and mouth erupt with thousands of spiders that quickly obscure his face.**_

"Oh God" Lydia shivered. "It's okay. They aren't here" Stiles said, rubbing her back.

 _ **Gerard meets with Agent McCall and someone from the US Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms. The old hunter presents them with files he says are his "FFLs" or Federal Firearms License forms. He says they're all up to date. McCall examines the tag on one of the cases; it says 625, Stock No. 711432, Serial NO. AA-612243, Brand Name Colt Remington AR-15, Type Semi Auto, Caliber/Gauge .223, Barrel Length 20". Gerard says the first number is the price and offer's a law enforcement discount of 10% off to Agent McCall. Looking around at the high shelves stacked with guns and ammo, McCall asks why Gerard has so much firepower. The old man counters that he's a federally licensed wholesaler and some people like to feel safe, "My staff and I sell peace of mind." McCall says Gerard's EDD roster says he has 30 employees, but there are enough guns in the room to arm 3000 people. Gerard says selling guns is the way he makes his living. McCall asks about his security arrangements. Gerard explains that they have a dozen employees on site during business hours. He says cameras in the warehouse keep everything under a 24 watch while their surveillance room monitors landline cellular and online communications within the building at all times. While the ATF agent is fine with all Gerard's paperwork, McCall presses further. He says Gerard has a lot of firepower for such a small market. Gerard says business is booming.**_

"Yeah. Literal booms" Allison muttered. "The guy knows how to sweet talk his way" Rafael muttered. "Gerard was always good with those things" Chris muttered.

 _ **In the locker room, Nolan apparently sought out**_ _ **Tamora Monroe**_ _ **and Gabe after discovering Edgar's body. The boy is still alive, choking on the floor. Monroe tells them to get rid of it. Nolan points out that he knows the boy from his trig class. She says it's not human and instructs that "one of you put it out of its misery." Gabe asks how they're supposed to do that to which she replies "Just do it." Gabe chokes the boy until he stops moving. He then looks stricken at what he's done. Nolan seems about to pass out. He barely registers when Monroe tells him to help Gabe get rid of the body. She tells him that Gabe just proved she could count on him and asks the same of Nolan. He looks completely dazed and out of it.**_

"Ah now they're seeing the errors huh?" Laura smirked. "Only Nolan" Liam pointed out.

 _ **Later in class, several students have their hands bandaged. Nolan is staring at his exam paper without comprehension. He looks up and sees Mason carrying an armful of blankets down the hall. He follows him. In the parking lot, Mason dumps the blankets into the back of Lydia's car. He sets the SatNav to take him to Hill Valley Zoo. It is apparently only 4.1 miles from the school at 7610 White Ave, Beacon … The route takes him along Cyclone Street for 3.6 miles and then a half a mile on White Avenue. Nolan watches as Mason pulls away from the school. He's phoned the hunters claiming he's found**_ _ **Scott's Pack**_ _ **. He follows Mason at a laughably close distance. Liam calls and asks if the plan worked. Mason says it did. Liam tells him to be careful. The SatNav tells Mason to turn right in one mile onto Oak Avenue even though that street is not on the route listed at the beginning of the trip.**_

"Good trap. This should buy you sometime" Derek nodded.

 _ **Liam and Theo are waiting for Mason at the entrance to the Zoo. They unload the car and Mason offers to come with them. Theo says Nolan's friends shoot to kill so, no. Mason says Lydia would kill him anyway if he damaged her car. Liam tells him not to worry about it because Nolan will do the rest. Outside Gerard's fortified arms warehouse, Lydia, Chris Argent, Scott, and Malia are waiting for the hunters to leave and follow Nolan to the zoo. Lydia gets a text and tells the others that their plan worked. Unfortunately, Scott and Malia still here several heartbeats inside suggesting that most of the hunters are still there. They argue whether they should still break in. Chris advises caution.**_

"You should advise them not to" Melissa turned to the man. "This could be their last chance" Chris pointed out. "Still" Melissa hissed at the man.

 _ **Two hunters arrive at the zoo. Nolan is worried that they only sent two. He warns them that they're not just facing a pack because "there's an Alpha and a**_ _ **Banshee**_ _ **, they're all here." The hunters see no one. Nolan gets defensive and explains that he saw Theo and Liam bringing a carload of food and supplies to the zoo with at least "six sleeping bags." Hidden inside the Zoo, Liam and Theo are worried that they only sent two hunters. They were expecting 20 for the plan to work, but since they don't believe Nolan, they didn't send everybody. Theo starts shouting. He fakes a shouting match with an invisible Scott about Liam. He then punches Liam and shouts to invisible Malia too. The hunters hear the ruckus and move to investigate. Theo punches Liam again. Theo yells that Liam is only good in a fight when he's angry, which, of course, just makes Liam angry.**_

"Why did you need to punch me!?" Liam glared at Theo. "To get you angry" he shrugged.

 _ **Chris Argent**_ _ **begins to crank his SUV to leave the parking lot at Gerard's base. Malia snatches the keys from the ignition saying that as long as Gerard thinks they're gone, it's a good plan. Lydia points out that it's their only plan. Chris says the plan has failed, but Malia is optimistic. The windshield begins to crack in front of Lydia. She zones out what the others are saying as she examines the finger-length crack. It begins to spread out like a spider web. Chris points out that they have 10 minutes until Gerard's people notice their vehicle as suspicious. Lydia is still zoned out, and the web of cracks continues to grow. Scott snaps her out of it, and the windshield shows no signs of damage.**_

"Spider web like. Think the thing is here?" Stiles looked to Lydia who shrugged. "Probably. Or I'm losing my mind" she shrugged.

 _ **Chris again says they should call off the mission. Scott believes Jiang and Tierney are "missing" and says they need to get into Gerard's warehouse because the hunter is always one step ahead. Chris argues that they're too exposed. Malia sees potential in the fact that they still have 10 minutes. Theo's nose is bloody, and Liam's shirt shows claw marks. He asks if they need to keep going. Just then, a hunter below them says they need to call for backup. Liam points out that Theo ripped his t-shirt. Theo counters that Liam broke his nose twice. He says "It healed, and you broke it again." Liam punches him in the nose again.**_

The room snorts as Theo grumbles.

 _ **Scott decides that he should lure the hunters away so they can get inside the warehouse. Malia reaches over him and locks his door. Scott protests, but Malia says the plan is dumb. They've brought "thermite charges" presumably to help burn up the weapons inside the warehouse. Malia suggests they use the tunnels under the building. Chris points out they'd still need to get in undetected. Liam and Theo are still worried that only two hunters and Nolan are pursuing them. Theo mocks the choice of the zoo. Liam says he picked it because the old rock tunnels and cages are like the streets of Mykonos. He correctly explains that the Greek city was designed with very long, narrow, winding streets that create a kind of maze for those unfamiliar with the town. The idea was that invading armies would get lost if they tried to take the city. Liam says he likes history. Theo says he's impressed and that it's a good idea. Liam points out that it only works if the invaders actually show up.**_

"Guess you actually do study" Hayden chuckled. "Only things that catch his eyes" Mason snorted.

 _ **As if on cue, the two SUVs filled with hunters,**_ _ **Gerard**_ _ **, and Monroe arrive at the zoo. Theo says they need to go deeper into the structure. Liam won't budge, he just keeps staring through the bars at the hunters below. Theo leaves him there. Gerard orders his men to spread out. Agent McCall is demanding that his ex-wife tell him where their son is. Melissa says Scott told her not to tell his father. He presses her, pointing out that Gerard has enough firepower to "arm a small country." He says he can't call in the FBI. Melissa says it's too late now and tells her ex not to worry because "you did your job. Now it's Scott's turn." She points out that he's known about the supernatural for about five minutes, while they've been at it for a lot longer. She says "these kids can handle it" and are best at "saving our asses." McCall questions if Scott has a plan, Melissa says he does.**_

"I hope it's a good one" Rafael muttered. "I hope so too" Melissa thought.

 _ **Chris, Lydia, Scott, and Malia break into the warehouse. Chris knocks out one of the surveillance cameras with a paintball gun while Scott and Malia knock out the guards. Chris says the thermite should take care of the weapons, and reminds Scott to be clear of the scene before they detonate. Chris takes out the guy in the surveillance room with the butt of his rifle. Malia takes out the one remaining guard in front of the armory door. Lydia and Chris watch via the camera feeds. Lydia hears a gunshot. She asks Chris about it, but he heard nothing. She then hears shell casings dropping the floor. She tells Chris that she also saw his windshield crack and then heard it shatter. She says they should have called this off.**_

"It would have helped if you told them this earlier" Allison looked at her best friend who rolled her eyes. "Well I'll do that next time" she said tightly.

 _ **Gerard hands Nolan a crossbow and tells him to take the south side of the zoo. He says the boy should shoot to kill. Nolan agrees and walks into the zoo. Monroe points out that Nolan could get killed. Gerard is fine with that saying, "Hopefully he takes one of them with him."**_

"It's astounding how this man gets more and more disgusting with each word he says" Allison muttered darkly.

 _ **Lydia hears another gunshot and more invisible shells hit the ground. She tells Chris that they need to leave right now. Chris is the hesitant one now. Lydia says Scott and Malia could die and that's not worth the risk. Chris has changed his tune; he says they're in it, and the risk versus reward balance has changed. He says if they stay, they could succeed, if they go, they might not get another chance. One risk is known, the other is unknown so they should stay. He keys something on the control board that apparently releases the locks on the armory. Scott and Malia enter to find the shelves empty. All the weapons and ammo boxes are gone.**_

"They expected us" Scott grew stiff. "And they probably set up traps" Stiles groaned.

 _ **Several well-armed hunters spread out around the zoo. Liam and Theo watch Nolan from behind a concrete wall. Theo points out that the boy will see him unless he hides better. Liam refuses. Theo says he doesn't plan to die just because Liam wants payback for the beatdown Nolan and Gabe delivered earlier. Theo finally pulls Liam away. Liam demands that Theo release him. His eyes flash yellow. Theo wonders what's going on with the young beta. He says his reckless behavior can't be just because of Nolan. He says something about the Zoo is triggering Liam. He wonders if it's the hunters, the cages, the heights. Liam says he's fine. Nolan finds the pair and calls out to the other hunters. Liam tackles the young hunter, and they both tumble off the edge of the zoo enclosure.**_

"I hope you're okay" Hayden muttered. "Hey werewolf here. I heal fast" he said with a grin.

 _ **Scott and Malia are ready to leave, but they smell Jiang and Tierney behind a locked door. Scott and Malia both pull to open the door. Chris notices that the door is wired to the control board in the surveillance room and yells for them to stop. It's too late, the door pops open, an alarm sounds on the control board, and the doors to the armory close and lock.**_

"They played you guys too well" Allison buried her face in her hands.

 _ **Gerard and Monroe locate the supplies Theo and Liam planted in the zoo. Monroe says someone has triggered the "armory failsafe" and she can't reach anyone there. She says it's suspicious, but Gerard says it's not worthy of his time. He already knows its Scott. She questions why they're still there playing hide and seek when it's obviously a ruse. Gerard says he wants to kill Scott's beta and drop his body at the Alpha's feet. He explains that the relationship between beta and alpha is like parent and child. Taking out Liam will break Scott, and, without the Scott, the whole**_ _ **Teen Wolf Pack**_ _ **falls apart.**_

"I'll remember to break you into pieces" Scott snapped surprising many in the room. "Easy Scott. We'll get him" Allison said soothingly, hugging her tense boyfriend close.

 _ **Chris explains that they can't do anything about the doors from the control room. Lydia notices a flashing light. Chris explains the display is showing motion sensors attached to halon fire suppression system. If the sensors are triggered, all the oxygen would be pulled from the room to put out a fire. Lydia wonders how long a werewolf can hold their breath. Scott and Malia explore the room where they smelled Jiang and Tierney. Inside they find a map with red dots marking northern California, Greenland, western Europe, Egypt, China, and Siberia. Scott is drawn to a display case off to the side of the map. Malia joins him asking him where the werewolves they smelled are. Scott points to the case and says "they're here. That's all that's left of them." Inside the case is a piece of skin with a tattoo depicting stacked rocks, the pack symbol for**_ _ **Satomi Ito**_ _ **'s pack. It appears that two hairy earlobes are mounted in another case nearby.**_

"Those sick bastards" Derek growled, eyes flashing dangerously. "He will die first and it will be painful" Peter muttered in anger. To desecrate a dead body like that, even he wasn't that crazy.

 _ **Outside this room, a red laser begins to sweep across the warehouse. Malia is about to rush out of the room and into the beam, but Scott pulls her back. Liam is unconscious and sees**_ _ **Brett Talbot**_ _ **and some other members of the**_ _ **Devenford Prep**_ _ **lacrosse team. After a loss, the captain brought him to the zoo and hit him repeatedly with lacrosse balls as punishment for letting "every single player" get passed him. A sign at the end of the zoo cage says "Warning, Dangerous Animals, Please do not Tease or Touch."**_

"That's horrible" Hayden gasped in shock. "I don't want to talk about it" Liam muttered and the conversation ended there.

 _ **Suddenly the Devenford Prep guys are gone. Nolan is there with the crossbow. Liam is all fangs and glowing eye. Nolan says "She wants me to kill you. She'll kill me if I don't" Liam lunges at him, rips away the weapon, and begins punching the wall next to Nolan's head until his hand is broken and bloody. Liam looks as though he might claw Nolan, but Theo punches Liam and knocks him unconscious. He tells Nolan to run.**_

"That was kind of you" Mason raised an eyebrow. "Didn't want pathetic blood on my hands I guess" Theo shrugged.

 _ **Chris explains that the communications system is shut down and the armory is soundproof. Chris finds a pipe that leads into the room and uses it to communicate, telling Scott and Malia to avoid the sensors. The first beam, about a foot off the floor, continues to sweep back and forth. Another beam, at about five feet, begins to sweep across in the opposite direction. Scott and Malia manage to avoid both beams as they jump up onto one of the racks that formerly held firearms. They land with Malia on top of Scott. She rises to get off him just as the beam sweeps their way. Scott pulls her back down. Scott wonders if she's uncomfortable, but she says no. They look around for some way to get out. Malia sees a padlock on a skylight above them. She says she has a plan, which Scott says is great. He doubts Malia can reach it or thinks she might trip a sensor. She assures him that she can make it. Chris is trying to rewire the control board to reset the sensors. Lydia notices Malia move to a standing position and wonders what the hell she's doing. Malia swings across and wraps her legs around a pipe, just above the sensor sweep. She successfully reaches out and manages to knock the lock down. Scott cheers, but the lock breaks on the floor and a small piece bounces and strikes the beam. The Halon fire suppression system fires jets from the ceiling, both Scott and Malia fall from their perches to the ground below and can't catch their breath.**_

"Shit" Lydia swore. "It was a good plan but" Scott bit his lips in worry for Malia rather than himself.

 _ **Sometime later, Scott holds Malia as they both gasp. Lydia wonders how long they have, Chris says minutes as a group of hunters moves to retake the warehouse. Through the speakers, they hear the hunters' orders – shoot to kill. Seconds later, a smoke grenade rolls down the hall toward the hunters. Chris rounds the corner and shoots out the lights above the corridor sending a shower of sparks down on the confused and coughing men. He manages to knock most of them out with the butt of his gun. Lydia follows him and throws a bag to distract one of the hunters. She then delivers a kick that sends him sprawling. Suddenly, Lydia is no longer in Gerard's warehouse. She is back in Scott's house. She flashes back and forth between the locations and hears glass breaking.**_

"Not the time!" Lydia growls.

 _ **Inside the armory, Scott warns Malia not to talk. She doesn't listen. She says she is not dying here pointing out that she is supposed to go to France. She says she's 18 and she's never been anywhere and there's still so many things she wants to do.**_

Peter closes his eyes and lets out a long breath and takes Malia's hand and gives it a gentle squeeze. Malia looks at the hand and just stays in her seat, no movement or words from her.

 _ **Scott holds her hand as they both gasp for breath. Chris says the door to the armory will stop a bullet, not a Banshee. Lydia takes a really deep breath and screams until the steel door buckles and falls inward. Scott and Malia can breathe again.**_

"Oh thank God" Melissa sighs in relief as hse held her son close. Peter just held his daughter's hand and stayed silent.

 _ **Liam regains consciousness in Theo's truck as they're driving. Theo explains that he had to knock Liam out five times. Liam is sad because he almost killed Nolan. Theo compliments his restraint in breaking his hands trying not to hurt the boy. Theo says the next time they come up with a plan, they should pick a place that doesn't trigger a murderous rage. Liam said he didn't know it would happen. Theo believes Liam brought him along because the**_ _ **Anuk-Ite**_ _ **is affecting him. He says Liam needs to figure it out before he completely loses it. Liam points out that the new thing causes fear, not anger. Theo says people only feel one emotion at a time, which is why Liam gets angry when he's afraid. Liam wonders, if the Anuk-Ite can have this effect on him, what might it be doing to everyone else.**_

"A lot of bad things" Corey muttered. "Understating it much?" Mason raises an eyebrow.

 _ **Monroe is upset because Scott got Gerard's map and may figure out what they're planning. Gerard says Scott won't. She berates him for trapping the pack and then letting them get away. She demands to know there's a plan. He reminds her of the story of the strong bond between Alpha and Beta. He says she should never make the mistake that the same applies to their relationship. Scott and Malia are in his room at home. Malia reminds him that she said she didn't want to die before she did a bunch of things. One of those things is apparently kissing Scott, which she does. They break and then he kisses her.**_

"Awww" Allison giggles. "You're okay with this?" Scott raised an eyebrow. "Well you see it's in a future that will not happen so I guess" Allison smiled.

 _ **Downstairs, Melissa, Lydia, Chris Argent, and Mason examine the map. Chris says it shows**_ _ **Nemetons**_ _ **elsewhere in the world. Lydia hears glass breaking. Mason says nemetons they're beacons for the supernatural. Chris says if you wanted to kill every supernatural in the world, you would start with the nemetons. Melissa says it appears Gerard isn't going to stop with Beacon Hills. Chris agrees saying his father wants the whole world. Agent McCall arrives and says no one can leave. Scott and Malia enter. He explains that Gerard has distributed the weapons to the residents of Beacon Hills free of charge. Lydia hears more shell casings. Chris says he's armed his army. Lydia stares at the window sensing something. She screams for everyone to get down and pulls Mason to the floor. Two arrows equipped with flash-bangs break the window and embed in the wall. Malia pulls Scott down to the floor. The arrows explode and gunfire peppers the room from outside the window. Chris has Melissa on the floor. Agent McCall draws his firearm. The gunfire stops. Scott notices a widening pool of blood spreading across the floor and a bloody hand reaches up.**_

"Oh no no no no" Scott muttered wide eyed. Someone in that room just got hit by a bullet or worse and he had a sinking feeling that he knew who it was.


	109. 6-17

_**Ethan**_ _ **paces in his flat overlooking the Thames River in London, England.**_

"Huh haven't seen him in a while" Stiles mused. "Guess he is in London now" Lydia pointed out.

 _ **He repeatedly attempts to call someone but keeps getting an automated voicemail message. He becomes increasingly frustrated as time ticks down to and then beyond the opening curtain of the show he and his boyfriend are supposed to see for their anniversary.**_ _ **Jackson Whittemore**_ _ **is thrown through the door of the flat, apparently unconscious. A woman dressed in black follows and promptly shoots Ethan in the chest with a dart. He gasps and exhales purple wolfsbane smoke from his lungs and collapses to the floor. The woman's male companion reminds her that they need to ask them questions, on orders from someone else, before they kill them.**_

"By someone he means Gerard" Allison groaned. "It might not be" Lydia said. "Who else could point out two American werewolves in London?" Allison raised an eyebrow. Lydia had no reply to this.

 _ **She says Ethan and his "boyfriend" have been tracking other werewolves and she wants to know their names. Ethan notices Jackson's claws extend and tells the woman she should have used**_ _ **Yellow Wolfsbane**_ _ **saying "regular wolfsbane won't work on him because he's not just part**_ _ **Werewolf**_ _ **. He's part**_ _ **Kanima**_ _ **." Jackson breaks the rope tying his hands, grabs a silver ice bucket and brains the male attacker. Ethan smiles. The woman fires another dart at Jackson, which he catches just before it hits his chest. His eyes glow blue as he attacks her. They fight throughout the apartment. Ethan cringes as they break an antique bowl, a lamp, and some recently framed pictures of him and Jackson.**_

""Whoa whoa whoa" Stiles blinks in shock.

 _ **Jackson gains the upper hand and the woman is knocked out. He scoffs at the idea that Ethan thought he'd forgotten their anniversary. They kiss.**_

"Jackson and Ethan!?" Stiles gapes. "Finally" Lydia exclaims. "You knew?" Stiles looked at his girlfriend who smirked. "I have been dating the man. I know a lot about him" she chuckled.

 _ **Scott sits in the waiting area at**_ _ **Beacon Hills Memorial Hospital**_ _ **as doctors perform surgery on his mother.**_

All color drained from Scott's face as he clenched his mother's hand tightly who seemed shocked as well.

 _ **He's honed his hearing to the point where he can hear every word, the beeping monitors, and his mother's heartbeat.**_ _ **Dr. Geyer**_ _ **says the bullet missed the ascending aorta and that the brachiocephalic artery is intact. He removes the bullet. Scott is joined by Malia who places her hand over his clenched hands. The doctor says**_ _ **Melissa**_ _ **will be okay and Scott relaxes. He takes Malia's hand in his.**_

Scott relaxes considerably as he embraces his mother tightly who hugs him back. "Told you I won't leave you" she said ruffling his hair.

 _ **Later a nurse injects a sedative into Melissa's IV and tells Scott that he only has a few minutes before it takes effect. Scott stands at his mother's bedside. She is very weak but she tells him not to run, insisting that he stay and fight. Scott goes to check on his father and finds his hospital bed empty.**_ _ **Sheriff Stilinski**_ _ **explains that**_ _ **Agent McCall**_ _ **was transferred to "San Francisco Memorial" and will be fine. The Sheriff goes on to explain that Mason is out of surgery and Lydia is "all right" too. He says "the bullet missed everything that matters" and everyone is going to live. The sheriff promises to post deputies outside each of their rooms, cordoning off the entire floor, to protect the wounded pack members.**_

"Bad idea since more deputies could be in on the whole purge agenda" Stiles muttered darkly. Noah sighed knowing his son was right to think like that. Even he was thinking on that line right now.

 _ **The sheriff says he'll find out who shot up Scott's house. Scott says the sheriff and everyone else already knows who is responsible. Malia catches up to Scott in the hall. The Alpha says he's done with peace summits, running or half measures. He says they will take on**_ _ **Gerard**_ _ **,**_ _ **Tamora Monroe**_ _ **, and all the**_ _ **hunters**_ _ **. He says they'll need an army. Sheriff Stilinski confronts Tamora Monroe in his office. She denies shooting up Scott's house. The sheriff already knows she wasn't directly involved because a surveillance camera caught her outside the school at the time of the crime. He knows she's behind the violence against supernaturals and says he wants Gerard.**_ _ **Deucalion**_ _ **surveys the damage at the**_ _ **McCall House**_ _ **, broken glass and bullet holes everywhere. Scott has called him to enlist his aid in the fight against the hunters, but the former**_ _ **Alpha Pack**_ _ **leader says his fighting days are over. Scott and Malia are incredulous. Deucalion stands firm saying "eventually the bodies pile up so high that even a blind man can't ignore them." Malia asks if he's moved into a cave and taken a "vow of uselessness." He says he's changed and his lives in a condo.**_

"Right cause that's where the saints go now" Malia rolled her eyes. "Why wouldn't he fight?" Laura asked in surprise. "Deucalion never liked violence. That little blind faze had affected him greatly but this is who he really is" Talia explained.

 _ **Scott tries a different tactic, acknowledging that Deucalion has changed but pointing out that Gerard has not changed and will not stop at**_ _ **Beacon Hills**_ _ **. He explains about the map and says the places circled are Toulouse, France and Brasília, Brazil. Deucalion adds Logashkino in Russia and Zhengzhou in China. Each place apparently has a**_ _ **Nemeton**_ _ **. Scott says Deucalion knows and can outthink Gerard. He says with almost everyone against them now, he needs help. Deucalion says Gerard wasn't the first to capitalize on the public's fear of "the other" and he won't be the last. He says Scott's power will always make him an outsider. Scott asks once more for his help to stop Gerard's army. He refuses again saying that stopping Gerard will meaning killing Gerard.**_

"And he doesn't think I'm up for it" Scott realized. "So he means that unless you come to terms with that, he won't help?" Allison asked. "More like assist. He won't fight directly" Lydia added.

 _ **Malia mocks him for being a pacifist. She attacks and he easily avoids her using a martial arts style he calls "Bagua." He describes it as a "martial art that takes the path of least resistance." He says Malia will beat herself if she keeps trying to fight him. She continues and he easily avoids each move leaving Malia prone on the floor. Malia gives up and says that while Deucalion can defend himself, he's leaving everyone else to get "their eyes stabbed out" a reference to Gerard's first attack on Deucalion. Deucalion laments what his war with the hunters turned him into and says he's not afraid to lose his eyes again, but he is afraid to lose his soul. He says while he won't fight, he will offer guidance. His first piece of advice is that they lower their standards for allies. Ethan and Jackson bicker playfully as they tie up the hunters who attacked them. Ethan is still upset that Jackson forgot and was late for their anniversary. Jackson wonders if getting kidnapped earns him any sympathy and Ethan says he can make it up next year. Jackson says he will if they're still alive next year. Jackson explains that he tracked a group of omega werewolves they were looking for to the Epping. He says the hunters got to them first, killing them all and taking fangs from each as proof that they were dead.**_

"Disgusting" Chris said in pure fury. Their motto was for protection. Not trophy collection.

 _ **Jackson questions the woman asking who they're working for because "there is no way in hell two random amateurs" could go after that many wolves and survive. She says they work alone. He asks them about Gerard. She says they don't have to say anything. Jackson glances to Ethan who is listening carefully to the hunter's heartbeat. He says she's already told them because "he talks and I listen so we know when you're lying." Jackson says they're getting pretty good at it and concludes that Gerard armed them and sent them after the werewolves in London. He asks if Gerard is also in London. The woman says that Jackson knows where the old man is, Beacon Hills. In the locker room, Liam assaults**_ _ **Gabe**_ _ **in an attempt to find out who shot up Scott's house. Gabe denies knowing anything. Liam crushes his head against a mirror until it cracks. Gabe's face begins to bleed as Gabe begs for him to stop. Theo shows up and points out all the logistical efforts they'd need to go through to actually kill Gabe. They would need to figure out where to hide the body. If anyone saw Liam grab Gabe, they would have to kill those witnesses too. Theo says they'll need shovels, plastic bags and maybe a chainsaw. Liam releases Gabe and the boy falls to the floor. The cracked mirror is smeared with blood. Liam asks why Theo continues to try to save him. He says if the chimera is trying to get in good with Scott so he can join the pack, it won't work because Scott will never trust Theo. He reminds Liam that Scott's goal all along is to keep people alive. Gabe pipes up that they should try harder. Theo grabs him and crushes his head back into the mirror. Gabe relents and explains there are a number of other bodies.**_

"Other bodies? Like them killing other creatures? What's the point in showing that to Liam or anyone?" Stiles asked incredulously.

 _ **In an attempt to convince Monroe to stop aiding Gerard,**_ _ **Noah Stilinski**_ _ **shows her a series of pictures and tells her, in graphic detail, about Gerard's duplicitous past. He explains how he killed**_ _ **Matt**_ _ **in an attempt to take control of the Kanima. He shows her an image from the distillery where Gerard killed his own men in an attempt to frame Deucalion and start a war between hunters and supernaturals. He says Monroe might be his next victim. The sheriff explains that Gerard is at least partially responsible for the attack that almost killed Monroe. He explains that the old man withheld vital information that could have stopped**_ _ **The Beast**_ _ **sooner. He says Gerard wanted to kill the historic foe to rebuild his street cred among the hunters. He says if Scott had known sooner what they needed to kill the beast, he might have prevented all the pain it caused. He says they must start understanding each other to avoid the conflict to come. Monroe turns Noah's argument around saying she understands that the sheriff can't control the violence in his own county and refuses to see the truth. She says she was lied to and told that she had been the victim of a bear attack. She says the sheriff lied to protect "them over us" and says he only chooses "them over us." Sheriff Stilinski walks Monroe out of his office and orders Deputy DeWitt to escort her "out of my station." The deputy hesitates and looks to Monroe. The guidance counselor questions if it's still his station. The other deputies present cross their arms in defiance. DeWitt defies the sheriff as well. Monroe says the station is hers now.**_

"Great" Noah snapped angrily. "Eay" Claudia said soothingly, rubbing his back.

 _ **He tries again to reason with her explaining that Gerard only cares about himself and his ambitions. Monroe says she doesn't trust him, but she knows he's going to win and that's what she cares about. She again turns Noah's arguments against Gerard to her own point of view saying "nothing is more important to Gerard than this fight. Not the life of a young man, not the lives of his allies, not the lives of his own men. That's how strong his belief is. He won't stop and that's why he'll beat you."**_

"No he would kill you all and then leave to plot other ways to defeat us" Lydia said with a glare. "You know if she was here right now, then this would be a lot easier to change" Stiles shouted. A note appeared from nowhere on Stiles' lap. He picked it, " _You're right"_ it read and had a smiley face at the end. Another seat appeared beside Theo and Monroe appeared in a flash of light looking very confused and afraid. "Where am.." she blanked out suddenly. Theo was just about to shake her when she grabbed his hand. "Don't touch me" she said in a growl and threw his hand away. "Guess she got filled in" Stiles pursed his lips and looked back at the screen.

 _ **She orders the deputy to take Noah's badge and gun. The Sheriff warns him that if he tries he'll feel the pain of a whole lot more than just jail time. Noah heads toward the exit but turns first and clarifies, "I never said Gerard wouldn't beat me. I said he wouldn't beat Scott." He leaves the station to Monroe.**_

"He will beat the Alpha" she said scathingly. "No" Derek started, "he will try, get his ass handed to him, kill every one of you and then flee to save his own hide. He did it before" he explained slowly. "Yup. I handed his assto him" Peter waved cheerfully referencing to the whole Hale fire thing.

 _ **Lydia**_ _ **awakens in her hospital room, but finds everything frozen over. There is a thin layer of snow on the floor and her breath escapes in little puffs of condensation. She rises from her bed and enters the empty hallway. Here too, ice covers everything. The frozen hospital is deserted and she shivers as she makes her way down the hall following what appears to be a wide path in the ice leading her to the morgue. Inside, she sees the ice has melted off one of the cadaver drawers. A warm glow shines from the edges of the drawer. She opens it.**_ _ **Peter Hale**_ _ **agrees to meet Scott and Malia at**_ _ **Eichen House**_ _ **. The former Alpha says he was curious. He refuses to take on another suicide mission to help**_ _ **Scott's Pack**_ _ **. Scott says they could not have won against the**_ _ **Ghost Riders**_ _ **without his help. He says Peter is stronger than all of them. Peter stops this trail of flattery saying his ego is already "quite healthy." Scott asks what he wants and Peter says he's fine. "My penthouse apartment is filled with mid-century furniture. My passport has more stamps than the Post Office. And did you see the car parked out front? That's a Shelby 1000 Cobra. There are only 100 in the entire world. I have two." Scott points out that Gerard has an army that wants the werewolves dead. Peter says Scott can't win. By way of demonstration, there is a hunter locked in one of the Eichen House cells with an unloaded automatic rifle. Peter explains that when he first encountered this hunter, the gun was pointed at his face. He says it's a G-36, which fires 750 rounds per minute. The weapon is empty, but Peter passes a full clip through the door to the waiting hunter. He says the hunter will kill them all unless Scott is willing to kill him, which he doubts the young man is willing to do.**_

"Not even to sace yourselves?" Monroe asked incredulously. "Not if it can be helped" Scott said with a slight glare. Monroe nodded stiffly and thought about it.

 _ **The hunter quickly loads the gun and begins firing at the windows of the cell. The weapon jams. Peter explains to the perplexed hunter how to unjam it by sliding the bolt back. He resumes firing. Scott tells the man that they won't hurt him but he just keeps firing. Peter explains that he's trying to kill them because he's afraid and because "he hates us." The bullets crack the glass but it doesn't break until the hunter throws himself through it. Scott wrestles with the hunter and asks him why he's attacking. The hunter says it's "because she want's you dead." Peter points out the man's blind obedience. Scott throws him against the wall and knocks him unconscious. Peter says someday they'll learn they can't save everyone. Scott counters that you can't kill everyone either. He says Peter can fight with them or alone, but, one way or another, he'll end up fighting. They walk away leaving Peter shouting that no one makes it through a war with clean hands meaning Scott is going to have to kill in order to win. Much Later, Peter agrees to meet Malia outside the library at school. She says she needs to give Peter all the facts. She plugs his claws into her neck and he sees the half of the**_ _ **Anuk-Ite**_ _ **as it confronted them in the tunnels and at the sheriff station. He breaks the connection and seems truly shaken. She explains that the creature feeds off of fear and is affecting the hunters and driving them to come for all the supernaturals including Peter. He scoffs at the idea that "incorruptible Scott" believes he can keep from killing. In addition to the new big bad, Peter also saw glimpses of Malia's growing attraction to Scott. He says she knows the only way she can protect him is to surround him with those who are willing to kill. He again refuses to help. She tells him to go running back to his cars because he cares about them more than anything else. He hands her a car key and says one of the Shelby vehicles was for her. She throws it back at him. Malia arrives at Scott's house and suggests they try to enlist the help of a pack known as "The Primal." She says this pack "gave up everything that makes them human – rules, morals, electricity." Scott says he's heard of them and their pack symbol is a circle with a crescent on top. Scott says, "they're not only strong, they'll kill anything that crosses their path." Malia points out that they're no worse than Deucalion and Peter. Scott says he knows those two killers and hesitates to enlist aid from the Primals if "they're murderers." Malia says she agrees but points out that they don't know of anyone else who could help. Scott wonders if they're that desperate. Gabe leads Theo and Liam to a freezer chest somewhere on campus. There are three bodies inside, one teacher and two students. Their eyes are gaping holes, similar to how victims of the Anuk-Ite's spider hoard look once the arachnids leave their bodies. Liam says unless there's a gun in the freezer it's not helping them find the shooter. Theo asks why Gabe hid the bodies. He says they didn't want to get caught testing the students to see if they were werewolves. These people apparently were but Gabe claims the hunters didn't kill them. He points to their faces and says something else did it. Theo says it was the Anuk-Ite. Gabe is confused. Liam questions why a creature that feeds off fear would want to kill because dead people aren't afraid. Theo surmises that death is just a byproduct of the Anuki-Ite looking for its other half and that it's searching supernatural creatures. Theo points out that Gabe has been helping it. The novice hunter says he was just helping**_ _ **Aaron**_ _ **. It was all Aaron's idea to test students. Liam and Theo realize that Aaron is half of the Anuk-Ite. Scott and Malia arrive at the**_ _ **Primal Pack**_ _ **compound in the woods. They are overwhelmed by fear and Malia starts to run. Once Scott takes her hand, she calms down. Inside the shack, they find several bodies with the hollowed-out eyes of Anuk-Ite victims.**_

"Well there goes that gamble" Malia groaned. "Good" Monroe thought.

 _ **A noise startles them, they turn to find Lydia - still barefoot and in her hospital gown - standing in the doorway. She says**_ _ **Halwyn**_ _ **led her there. Malia points out that Halwyn is dead but Lydia says the connection between**_ _ **Hellhound**_ _ **and**_ _ **Banshee**_ _ **is apparently stronger than death. He wanted her to come there to find a body. Scott and Malia point out that there are several bodies inside but she says that's not the one she's looking for. Lydia leads them through the woods. Malia says she doesn't smell any other dead bodies. Lydia points out that she is a "harbinger of death" and says they should trust her.**_

"Considering dead bodies, trust the lady of death" Stiles jokes and gets a pillow to the face as a reward.

 _ **Nolan**_ _ **follows Gabe into the locker room. He's explained the situation with Theo and Liam and says he didn't tell them anything about who shot up Scott's house. Gabe says he did it but told Monroe that Nolan did it to protect the boy from the hunters. He says Nolan should be grateful because that's the only reason he's is still alive. Lydia leads them to a skinless bloody lump of a body partially covered in leaves. Malia is confused because they saw**_ _ **Jordan Parrish**_ _ **burn up the last lump in the tunnels. Scott points out that this is a different one. There is a burned outline of a Primal Pack tattoo on one arm. Scott explains that werewolves have to burn in tattoos in order to get them to show up.**_

"Well then it's possible the other face is pretending to be someone they are not" Stiles leaned forward. "Which is extremely bad" Theo sighed.

 _ **Lydia surmises that there are two of the bloody lumps because the Anuk-Ite has two faces. Scott says Halwyn sent her there to find the Anuk-Ite's other face. Later at the school, Liam and Theo show Scott and Malia the bodies in the freezer. Malia says it's a bad day for finding bodies. Liam says it'll get worse if they don't find Aaron's other half. Scott says they at least know it's a werewolf. They question what might happen if the two halves merge. They don't know for sure but do know it won't be good. Peter shows up. He is covered in soot and holding a partially burned steering wheel. He claims the hunters blew up both his cars and he's there to help them stop the Anuk-Ite and promising there will be hell to pay.**_

"For his car" Stiles clarified. "Not because others are dying" Malia rolled her eyes.

 _ **Peter gets into Malia's car. Peter is in a rush, claiming he has a lot of revenge to plan. Malia says she's not moving until he tells her the real reason he came back. He says it's because of the cars, but she says he's lying. She says something he saw while he was in her head convinced her. As Scott gets into**_ _ **Stiles**_ _ **Jeep, Peter flashes on all the scenes of Malia's burgeoning relationship with the true alpha. He sees how Malia protected Scott from the Ghost Riders, how she took away his pain in the tunnels, and how they almost died in the armory. He sees their kiss too. Peter warns Malia not to fall in love with a dead man. She says it's "too late."**_

"Well shit" Peter swore then got punched in the nose for it by his daughter.

 _ **Jackson and Ethan arrive at Beacon Hills High School. The first adult they encounter is Tamora Monroe. They ask for Scott indicating that they know he is an assistant lacrosse coach at the school. She asks his name and then recognizes him as "Jackson Whittemore." He seems flattered that she's heard of him. Jackson and Ethan are tied to a metal scissor gate inside the hunters' headquarters. Monroe douses them both with water. Ethan scolds Jackson for being so flattered by Monroe that they ended up captured.**_

"Some things never change" Lydia rolled her eyes playfully with a smirk.

 _ **She asks what they want with Scott McCall. Jackson drags her mercilessly saying he doesn't know who she is and is not impressed by her "little show." The counselor dials up the electricity sending a shock through the gate and into the prisoners. She repeats her question.**_

"He should just answer the questions" Monroe said sternly. "No you should stop torturing him" Stiles snapped back. Monroe glared at the boy but didn't say much.

 _ **Jackson says he actually has some questions for her. She says that's not how it works but he continues that she needs them more than they need her because she wants to know what they came to tell Scott. She shocks them again. Jackson asks why she's killing werewolves in London and why did they send hunters to chase them down. She shocks them again. She says them asking questions of her is not how this works. Ethan disagrees, he repeats the line from earlier that Jackson talks while he listens. She shocks them again. Monroe exits. Jackson says "Happy anniversary."**_

"What a fine way to spend your anniversary" Allison chuckled.


	110. 6-18

_**At the Animal Clinic, Scott, Liam, Mason, and Theo listen to a voicemail retrieved from the phone they found at the**_ _ **Primal Pack**_ _ **headquarters. A woman's voice says - "Hey. It's me again. I don't know why you can't seem to call me back. Maybe it's because you think you're punishing me, but this is too long. It's too much, and it's not about us. Something's happening in**_ _ **Beacon Hills**_ _ **, to the people here. I just … I need to know everyone there with you is okay. Can you just please call me, please. One call, that's all I'm asking for. And, if you can't call me back, I'm going to get my answer anyway. That means I'm coming up there myself if I don't get a call from you. I'm coming up there so just try, try to remember it's my pack too."**_

"Oh no" Claudia gasped, knowing full well what had happened.

 _ **Liam says Malia pulled the phone of one of the bodies in the woods. Scott explains there were six dead and one of them had no face. Theo speculates that the one with no face may be the woman on the phone. Mason says the same thing happened to**_ _ **Aaron**_ _ **. The Anuk-Ite took over Aaron's body, stole his face and his DNA. They speculate that whoever the woman on the phone is, she might be the other half of the**_ _ **Anuk-Ite**_ _ **. Theo believes, and Mason agrees, that they should be looking for the half of the creature they know about. Scott sends them to look for Aaron while he and Liam try to figure out who the werewolf on the phone might be. They believe if they can stop the Anuk-Ite from combining, they can stop the war with the hunters.**_

"Don't be too sure" Monroe said heatedly. "It will. People are scared and by taking out the fear factor, the war won't happen" Scott said with a slight glare. "You do realize the fear factor is you" Monroe pointed out. Hearing no other come backs other than a "we are protecting them all" and "we are not their enemies" she leaned back in her seat. The memories she had gotten were not just the post Riders one, but rather everything from the beginning. She still did not think of the McCall pack in a positive way, but she was starting to see them differently from how future her saw because she was now a witness to what they had done and what had gone through.

 _ **Later, armed with a partially melted baseball bat, Mason leads Theo down to the tunnels. He says they should start there because Aaron hasn't been in class for days, and they were down in the tunnels the last time they saw the faceless lump.**_ _ **Jordan Parrish**_ _ **burned up the body, but no one's been back to check on it since because of the intense fear they feel whenever they get close to the spot. Mason says if they follow their fear, they're heading in the right direction. They come to a fork in the tunnel, one way is well lit while the other is "spooky." Theo picks the spooky way because he says Mason was right about following their fear.**_

"Well at least you two are working together on this" Stiles mumbled. "Better chance of survival" Lydia nodded.

 _ **Liam decides to call the last number that dialed the phone they found. Scott stops him, hanging it up before it connects. Liam says they should get the woman to meet them somewhere. Scott wants to have a plan before they make contact. The phone rings. They don't answer it. As soon as it stops, Liam dials back and a male voice says "**_ _ **Beacon Hills High School**_ _ **, how can I direct your …" They hang up quickly.**_

"So it's a teacher?" Hayden perked up.

 _ **Liam has a thought. He plays the message again and realizes that the voice belongs to BHHS Biology teacher**_ _ **Mrs. Finch**_ _ **.**_

"And she has been right there and we never knew" Liam shook his head. "She's good at masking her presence" Talia mumbled.

 _ **Mrs. Finch arrives at school. Scott and Liam are waiting for her in the parking lot. Scott says while it might have been her on the phone, it doesn't prove that she's the Anuk-Ite or a werewolf. He sends Liam into her class to try to get her to expose her "supernatural side." Liam is concerned about the "hunters and the Nazi student brigade," but Scott promises he'll be right there with him. He instructs his beta to find out and then get out.**_

"Nazi student brigade" Stiles snorts.

 _ **In class,**_ _ **Gabe**_ _ **sits next to Liam and says "Welcome back." Mrs. Finch draws a diagram on the chalkboard showing two sets of eyes, blue and yellow.**_

"Ah the eyes of werewolves. Coincidence? I think not" Mason said cheerfully. Liam looked at his best friend weirdly and shook his head.

 _ **Scott is stationed in the hallway outside the classroom. Mrs. Finch is shocked to see Liam. He says he couldn't let his GPA fall just because he got beat up at class. Gabe attempts to text someone to alert them that Liam is at school. Mrs. Finch snatches it away from him reminding him that there are no phones allowed in her classroom.**_

"I wonder why she didn't help Liam out if she is the same as Liam" Hayden said with an edge. "Maybe she was scared too and thought that Liam would heal and that he would not come back, hence being safe" Corey said. "Well that's a shitty logic" Hayden scowled.

 _ **She continues with her lesson talking about how they can determine the probability of an offspring having a particular trait based on the parents' DNA. Liam slips earplugs in and sets off one of the sonic devices used to drive werewolves. Scott winces in the hallway. A student named Rebecca flees the classroom holding her ears. Mrs. Finch frowns but seems otherwise unaffected. Liam turns off the device and tells Scott there was no reaction at all.**_

"Frowns are much more of a giveaway then running off holding your ears" Laura smirked. "She is used to it seems" Derek nods.

 _ **Scott sees a shadow approaching outside the window. He asks Liam if Gabe got a text off before his phone was taken. Liam volunteers to try the problem on the board in order to follow Gabe to the front of the room. Thinking the shadow outside is a hunter, Scott prepares to fight. It's just a maintenance worker. He tells Liam to hurry up. Liam is doing the problem on the board wrong. He sprinkles purple**_ _ **Wolfsbane**_ _ **powder on the eraser as Mrs. Finch tells him he's wrong and should let someone else try. She approaches the board, picks up the eraser and removes what Liam wrote. Purple dust flies around her causing her to sneeze, but otherwise, she seems unaffected. She rubs the dust between her fingers and dismisses the class for the day. She tells Liam to stay behind.**_

"And you have your confirmation there" Theo smirked.

 _ **Malia and Lydia are trying to figure out how**_ _ **Halwyn**_ _ **managed to contact the banshee considering he is still lying in the morgue apparently dead.**_

"Well both being harbingers of death, I suppose they have a spiritual connection as well" Allison shrugged. "Possible" Talia nodded. She had never read on stuff like this before.

 _ **They stand over his body and speculate that he's not "fully dead" since he was able to lead her to the faceless body in the woods. As Lydia begins to work out a way to communicate with the hellhound, we see the bullet**_ _ **Tamora Monroe**_ _ **fired into his head is still lodged in his brain. The silver coating has flaked off and the surrounding tissue glows yellow has his body attempts to heal itself.**_

"Silver poisoning" Lydia raised an eyebrow. "So silver makes it difficult to heal and the silver seeps into the blood and poisoning it for the creatures" Chris mussed, he was now thinking that silver bullets could actually kill much more than just humans or at least incapacitate them long enough for him to kill them other ways.

 _ **Lydia lies on the autopsy table in the morgue with her head almost touching Halwyn who is still in the drawer. Malia suggests she touch him and grabs her hand and places it on the Hellhound in several places. Malia says maybe she can insert her claws into the back of his neck and read his memories. Lydia nixes the idea because, since she doesn't actually know how to do that, Malia might damage Halwyn's brain more than the bullet. Malia wonders how he got in touch with the banshee last time. Lydia says she was unconscious at the time. Malia sees a hammer and gets an idea. Lydia is not having it. Malia acts confused saying that Lydia wants her to knock her out. Lydia clarifies that she wants her to "render unconscious" and preferably without pain. She tells Malia to press against her chest hard enough to interrupt blood flow, drop her blood pressure and render her unconscious. After a little back and forth Malia obliges.**_

"That is risky and you know it" Stiles glared slightly at the girl. "We need to do something" Lydia argued but she looked slightly sheepish.

 _ **Lydia passes out and immediately finds herself in**_ _ **Eichen House**_ _ **. She sees a warm light coming from one of the cells. When she looks inside fire explodes behind the stone version of Halwyn. He busts from the stone and growls at her. He bangs his head against the glass of the door. The door opens and Halwyn leaps through it, grabs Lydia, and they both fall through the wall. Lydia wakes up on the floor of the morgue and says she knows how to save Halwyn.**_

"You push him through a wall?" Mason asked. "But first bang his head against the glass door and let him leap through it" Liam snorted.

 _ **Mrs. Finch says she knows what Liam is trying to do. She says she knows he's upset about her not stopping the fight where Gabe and Nolan attacked him at school. Liam explains that he knows she's a werewolf and about her pack. She asks if he's on drugs because his father is a doctor and he probably has access to drugs like oxycontin or oxycodone. He insists that she's a werewolf. She continues to deny it.**_

"She must be really desperate to hide who she is" Malia mumbled. "Well it is desperate times right then. And even walls have ears" Peter mumbled.

 _ **Scott steps in and plays the message. Finch freezes and then snatches the phone and demands to know where they found it. Finch continues to deny that she knows anything about the Primal Pack or werewolves. She says she was trying to find her daughter and demands to know where the phone was found. They pry further, repeating back her own claim in the message that she was in a pack. She becomes more and more frantic. Scott asks if she was able to reach any of them before they died. She apparently didn't know about the murders and is stunned. She says they can't be dead. They were just in the woods hiding out because they were scared. Scott says they found six bodies, three men, two boys and the unidentified skinless lump. He says the skin was stripped down to the muscle, there was no DNA, but the pack tattoo was still there. She says it doesn't make sense because that's not how biology works. Liam explains its how the Anuk-Ite works, it finds a body and it takes its face. It takes the whole identity of the person. Finch is heartbroken.**_

"Poor woman" Claudia mumbled. "She may just have lost her daughter to the beast" Melissa said sympathetically.

 _ **Dressed as hospital workers with caps and masks, Lydia and Malia wheel Halwyn into the MRI area on a gurney. Lydia has pulled up instructions on how to work the machine on her phone. They get it going and pictures of Halwyn's brain begin to resolve. Lydia says, according to the image "artifact-ing" the bullet is "ferromagnetic, probably steel" and will "react in the MRI." She plans to intensify the machines magnetic field and it will pull the bullet right out. She is about to start the procedure but notices something else on the screen. There are flakes of silver around the bullet suggesting it was encased in the non-magnetic material. While the MRI machine will pull the bullet free, the silver flakes will be unaffected. Since**_ _ **Hellhounds**_ _ **heat up when they heal, Lydia believes the silver will melt and poison him from within. He'll die if they remove the bullet.**_

"There goes another plan" Lydia sighs. "No you two need to do it" Stiles says and Lydia's head snaps towards him, "you are running out of time and as the guardian, the hellhound probably wouldn't mind it…much" he explained.

 _ **Malia says if they had more time they maybe could figure out another way to remove the bullet and still save Halwyn, but they don't because someone is going to come in and catch them. Halwyn is their last shot at figuring out how to beat the Anuk-Ite. Malia says he spent more than 100 years waiting just in case it got out of the**_ _ **Wild Hunt**_ _ **. She says the first thing he did once he revived was to start hunting it. She believes Halwyn would want them to defeat the thing even if it killed him. Lydia acquiesces. She dials up the magnets. Halwyn's body begins to thrash about. He growls and the bullet pops free. He manages to stand and demands to know where the Anuk-Ite is. He then collapses into their waiting arms. They ease him to the floor and Malia begins interrogating him about the creature, asking about weaknesses or anything else that might help them kill it. Lydia notices silver is leaking from Halwyn's nose.**_

"Hurry damnit" Allison muttered biting her lips.

 _ **Liam and Scott try to get Mrs. Finch to call her daughter. She wants them to stop talking about monsters. Scott says if she does it, she'll at least find out what happened to her family. Liam says he'll call for her. He takes the phone and finds the number. He recognizes the name. It's**_ _ **Quinn**_ _ **.**_

"And she has been right under our noses" Liam groans. "Our enemies seem to be there a lot" Theo said in amusement.

 _ **In the tunnels, Mason and Theo bicker about his inability to think of others instead of himself. Theo says he might want to be in the pack. Mason says the first thing he would probably do is figure out a way to kill the rest of them. Mason becomes more and more frightened as does Theo. Aaron attacks, but Theo knocks Mason out of the way just in time.**_

"Thanks I guess" Mason mumbled and Theo just shrugged.

 _ **The school now appears deserted. Mrs. Finch hears someone coming down the hall and believes it's her daughter. She asks what Scott plans to do. He shushes her. She fears they'll try to hurt Quinn so she picks up the wolfsbane eraser and claps it upside each of their heads. They both go down in a coughing fit.**_

"That idiot woman!" Peter growled. "She is a mother wanting to protect her child!" Claudia turned and glared at the man. "That thing is no longer her daughter" he spat back and returned the glare.

 _ **Mrs. Finch rushes out into the hallway. She is struck by fear as she tries to run to her daughter. Quinn says, in a too-deep voice, "I'm looking for someone, someone like me." Finch realizes she's not Quinn. The creature claws her.**_

Claudia winced. To get injured was one thing but by someone who looked like her dead baby. That was just a big blow psychologically as well physically.

 _ **Down in the tunnels, Aaron continues his attack on Theo and Mason. The latter is hurt. An odd thing happens, wounds inflicted by Theo on Aaron appear on Quinn's body. She screams in pain and leaves Finch alone.**_

"So both bodies are connected and any injury one receives the other gets it too" Scott said in a slightly cheerful voice. "So we can take down two faces with one blow" Stiles grinned.

 _ **Aaron hears her scream and takes off toward the noise. Theo tries to take Mason's pain but Mason says it won't work because "You can't take pain if you don't care." Scott and Liam find the badly injured Mrs. Finch in the hallway. Scott tells Liam to follow Quinn. He balks saying if she finds Aaron he doesn't know what to do. Scott says he can't leave Finch. He says its okay for Liam to be afraid, but he can't let the fear stop him. Scott says "you've got this" and Liam heads off in search of Quinn.**_

"Aww pep talk from the idol" Hayden teased pulling a scowling Liam's cheeks.

 _ **Unable to center on Quinn's voice, Aaron realizes his injuries aren't showing up on his body. He heads back into the fight with Theo, grabs both the**_ _ **chimera**_ _ **'s hands, and thrusts Theo's claws into Aaron's stomach. Quinn screams again in pain. Aaron takes off again to find her. Scott finds Finch's pack tattoo. He tries to convince her to heal herself. Halwyn realizes he's going to die. He explains that they can't stop or kill the Anuk-Ite, only trap it. He says the only way to trap it is to stop it from finding its other half. He says they'd be dead if it already had. He says if the two halves merge, they won't be able to catch it. Halwyn says if the two become one, do not look at it because it will kill you with a look. Halwyn dies.**_

"What are we facing? Medusa!?" Stiles said incredulously. "With Medusa we could just slice her head off. Bt if what the guys says is true" Lydia bites her lips. "We'll find a way and kill that thing" Scott said seriously and with firm determination.

 _ **Liam follows Quinn into the Library. He's scared but decides to use the fear to make himself angry. Aaron enters and joins Quinn. They both turn to face Liam across the room.**_

"This can't be good" Mason mumbled. "How did he get there so fast?" Liam gaped. "Secret passages I guess" Hayden shrugged.

 _ **Scott moves Mrs. Finch into a classroom and out of the hallway. Hunters enter with Gabe and pass the spot where she fell earlier. Mrs. Finch says it's all her fault because she pushed Quinn away. Scott continues to try to get her to shift so she can heal. She says she forced Quinn to hide who she was, which drove her to the Primal Pack. She keeps calling for Quinn so Scott lays it out, "Your daughter is gone. Quinn is dead." This apparently reaches the woman because she growls. Her eyes glow red.**_

"So she's an alpha" Peter mused. "Explains how she is as good at hiding and mixing in so easily" Laura nodded.

 _ **Liam leaps from table to table, crossing the space between himself and the two halves of the Anuk-Ite. He jumps toward Quinn. She punches him in the chest and sends him flying back. She and Aaron kiss and spiders flow through their mouths into each other.**_

"Oh that's so gross" Lydia groaned and leaned into Stiles who was rubbing her back.

 _ **Quinn then headbutts Aaron. They grab each other by the throat and squeeze. They seem equally matched, but Aaron manages to break Quinn's neck.**_

"Well that was an intense make-out session" Everyone blinked.

 _ **The spiders inside her climb out and into him. His eyes glow purple. Energy begins swirling around Aaron like purple smoke. His body twists and contorts with the sound of breaking bones as he cries in pain. Inside the swirling vortex, his body begins to change, elongate and stretch. When the purple smoke clears, what appears to be a hollow-eyed skeleton with only a thin layer of musculature stretched tight on its frame stands where the boy was before. It has no mouth and its eyes swirl with eddies of purple energy.**_

"That's one ugly thing" Stiles made a face. "No wonder it kills with a glance. The thing is hideous" Mason added.

 _ **Liam can't see the creature, but he can hear it and prepares to face it. Lydia grabs him from behind and throws him out of the library door. She tells him to run. He's confused, but, as they run into another part of the school, she explains that they can't look at it because a glance would kill them. Gabe overhears this and hides as his two hunter friends continue down the hall.**_

"Tell them to stop you fucking idiot!" Allison hissed.

 _ **The Anuk-Ite rounds the corner of the hall. As it turns toward the men, the purple energy flares in its eyes and both men turn to stone. Gabe witnesses this but shuts his eyes tightly and doesn't see the creature as it calmly exits the school.**_ __

"So we are fighting Medusa. Or a long lost relative of hers" Stiles groans. "Never knew Poseidon swung both ways and visited the same place twice" Mason joked, referring to the origin story of the Gorgon.

 _ **Sometime later, Lydia and Liam examine the stoned bodies. Liam wonders how they can fight something they can't look at. Scott arrives and says they need to learn to fight without their eyes. Lydia realizes they'll need**_ _ **Deucalion**_ _ **to help them do that. Later at Scott's house, Malia sits on his bed examining the bullet that came from Halwyn. Scott is cleaning up in his bathroom. She joins and tries to help. She says there's too much blood and he should just get in the shower. Scott hesitates, but she reminds him that he's already seen her naked. They get into the shower, kiss, and hold each other tightly.**_

"But you never did that" Stiles pointed out with a snort. Peter glanced at the boy coolly sending shivers down both him and his best friend's spines.

 _ **The Anuk-Ite arrives at the hospital. Everyone that crosses its path is turned to stone. In the morgue, the creature examines Halwyn's dead form.**_ _ **Gerard**_ _ **is waiting for it.**_

Monroe narrowed her eyes.

 _ **He doesn't look at it but is obviously terrified. Gerard says he knows the creatures wants its freedom and that means getting rid of people like Scott McCall. The creature says, "The young one." Gerard says Anuk-Ite can't match Scott in a physical fight. While the creature could kill him with a look, Gerard says it would be surprised at how resourceful Scott can be.**_

"He isn't wrong" Stiles shrugged.

 _ **Anuk-Ite asks what Gerard is offering. The old man says he'll weaken Scott with poison and then the creature can kill him and his friends. He says this will give it "all the fear you need to never be caught again." Anuk-Ite wants to know what Gerard wants out of the bargain. He says he'll drive every last supernatural from Beacon Hills. He holds up a silver bullet and explains the old legend about killing werewolves with silver is a little bit true because it came from their family name. "Argent" means silver in French. To kill a werewolf, you need an Argent.**_

"To side with something like that" Monroe thought in disgust at the lengths Gerard was willing to go. "Typical of that bastard" Allison snarled. Even Chris looked murderous.


	111. Author's Note 6

So I was thinking of putting my twitter link here so you guys can follow me on it so that I can let you guys know the reasons as to why I couldn't update a new chapter or if I was thinking on adding new fan fictions. Or maybe just to let me know if I was interested in writing certain fan fictions. Lemme know if you guys want it or not.


	112. 6-19

_**Chris Argent arrives in Cabeceiras, Brazil to meet with a police contact. The officer pulls a gun, he says an Argent asking to meet alone in the middle of the night requires precautions.**_

"But why?" Allison tilted her head. "We had a few run-ins with the police out there. Mostly Gerard so they aren't all that happy to be of help to us" Chris said dryly.

 _ **He then demands that Argent disarm. The hunter removes a gun from a holster, another from his waistband and a knife from his sleeve. Chris presents the officer with an envelope full of cash. He acts insulted at the "bribe" but Chris says the money is for information. The man tells him he'll need a lot more money if he wants people to talk. He says they're superstitious and afraid. After Chris explains he can be "open-minded" about superstitions, the police officer relents and tells the story. There are a number of bloody dead bodies inside a damaged, partially burned shed. From the claws visible on the victims, it's apparent they were werewolves.**_

"Did the fear thing reach that far?" Hayden muttered slacked jaw. "I'm sure it's the hunters this time" Liam mumbled.

 _ **The officer says the police weren't the only ones investigating the mass murder.**_ _ **Derek Hale**_ _ **walks around the crime scene, he touches what appears to be letters written in blood on the corrugated metal wall of the shed. Sometime later, a number of heavily armed men are stacking crates of guns in a bullet-riddled and rundown warehouse. There are a number of cars parked inside and covered with tarps. A door opens and the man on guard goes to investigate. He is knocked out by an unseen assailant. Hearing the commotion, another of the men goes to look. The policeman explains to Argent that Derek came in broad daylight, attacking in silence and took them out one by one. "They said he moved with impossible speed, his teeth as sharp as razors. He stood more than 8' tall."**_

"You're not that huge" Laura snorted. "Right. But nicely done taking them all out like that" Peter said with a smirk. Dean rolled his eyes at both of them with scowl.

 _ **Chris stops the officer's story at this point to question the size assigned to Derek in the retelling. The officer explains that it's a small town with big superstitions. He continues the story saying that the attacker's eyes glowed blue. Derek interrogates the last of the men in the shed. The cornered man calls him "lobo homem" in Portuguese and then "Wolf Man" in English. Derek is attacked from behind but easily disarms and subdues two attackers. He turns back to the man he's questioning and asks why they're hunting werewolves. The man is very forthcoming saying "Because of you, he wants you." He asks the man who he's talking about. When he hesitates to answer, Derek shows fangs and glowing eyes and lunges forward, pinning him to the concrete floor.**_

"Gerard" Talia growled making everyone jump slightly. Nobody had heard her this animated before now. But then again this was her family in danger.

 _ **The policeman concludes the story, "Gerard. They all said 'Gerard.'" Chris collects his weapons and says he needs to find Derek. The officer continues, "You can't just find him. They said he turned into a wolf and disappeared into the fog." Chris insists he drove a car, but the man says "The lobisomem drives no car."**_

"Oh I drive a car" Derek said with a snort.

 _ **In the shed, Derek spies the cars under the tarps and goes to check them out. He removes the sheet from one and reveals what appears to be a 2018 Chevy Camaro. He drives it through the doors of the shed and out into the dirt streets beyond. In the morning, the police officer takes Chris to the scene of the mass murder of werewolves. He explains that there were 12 bodies and INTERPOL put out a "red alert" for Derek. On the corrugated metal wall, the words "Beacon Hills" are written in what appears to be blood. The officer asks if the hunter knows what it means. Chris says it's where it all started and where it's all going to end.**_

"Ominous much?" Allison muttered making Chris chuckle.

 _ **Ethan**_ _ **is still strapped to the metal scissor gate in the hunter's armory.**_ _ **Tamora Monroe**_ _ **is applying electric current causing the werewolf to twitch and cry out as a couple dozen people look on. Monroe explains that the electricity is keeping Ethan from breaking free and killing them. Ethan growls that he would start the killing with her and gets another jolt.**_

Monroe smiled in satisfaction. This is what these monsters deserved. "Did they really? Are they all bad?" something in her spoke up before getting forcibly pushed down.

 _ **She gives a little history of the hunters who came before. She holds up an arrow, explaining that they once used arrows and crossbows to fight the werewolves. "This is all they had to protect themselves, a sliver of wood, while he has claws that can cut into bone and fangs to tear us apart." During the last bit, Monroe holds up Ethan's hand and then his chin to demonstrate the claws and fangs. She goes through the special abilities of**_ _ **Werewolves**_ _ **noting that they're stronger, faster, and have healing abilities that can "only be described as extraordinary."**_

"No need to flatter us" Peter said with a charming smile. Monroe merely gave him a cold look then turned away. "Tough crowd" he mumbled under his breath.

 _ **She points to**_ _ **Sydney**_ _ **and asks her to explain how she's seen the werewolves up close. The girl relates the tale of being trapped in the library during one of the battles between**_ _ **Scott's Pack**_ _ **and the Beast. Sydney says that all they could do was hide from it. Monroe seizes on this and says she did the same thing until she got tired of hiding and being afraid.**_

"If you can remember correctly, we were fighting for you guys. To protect you guys" Scott said. "People died. Humans died. How many supernatural creatures died?" Monroe spat back. "More than you can imagine" Stiles said lowly. Monroe blinked in shock, "they're lying" she told herself. "What if they aren't? What if they did it to protect us?" the voice said again and this time it was not pushed away.

 _ **She says it's "their" turn to be afraid and stabs Ethan with the arrow she was holding. In the crowd,**_ _ **Nolan**_ _ **winces at the violence. Sydney and**_ _ **Gabe**_ _ **barely blink. Others in crowd cheer. Monroe continues, "Their turn to hide, their turn to be alone, their turn to run, their turn to be hunted."**_

"We do not hunt you unlike you" Laura snarled. Monroe was ready for a reply when a thought occurred to her. Did they hunt them? Other than the beast and whatever came before and after, it was not these hidden creatures that attacked. "But there were creatures who did attack! Who killed us!" she said to herself. "Humans are also guilty of doing the very same thing. Terrorists are real and they kill people" the voice said again. What if there were good and bad creatures? Like there were good and bad people.

 _ **As if to illustrate her points, Lydia is sleeping fitfully and seems to be hearing Monroe's speech in the armory in her dreams and Scott, who is sleeping next to Malia at the**_ _ **McCall House**_ _ **awakes in the night and pads quietly downstairs by himself. He flashes his eyes red and stares around the dining and kitchen areas. Deputy Farrel pulls over**_ _ **Noah Stilinski**_ _ **'s car. The young man advises the sheriff to stay out of the way because "we're not coming for you." Noah says "If you're coming for my friends, you're coming for me." Monroe continues her speech as the**_ _ **Anuk-Ite**_ _ **looks on from the shadows and seems to feed on the energy of the cheering crowd and the fear in the room.**_

Monroe blinked in shock. Her actions were powering the monster up. "This is not the plan. Not what I want" she thought to herself in horror. That thing could kill literally anyone it wanted, regardless of whether they are human or creatures.

 _ **She explains that she was alone when she killed a**_ _ **hellhound**_ _ **, a creature "they said couldn't be killed." She calls Nolan up to the front and explains to the crowd how he tried to take out Scott McCall all by himself. She says the young man put so many bullets into the house that she's surprised it's still standing. Nolan looks uncomfortable as the angry crowd cheers for him.**_

Scott looked at the woman and noticed that she was not looking as happy as she was on screen. "Maybe it can be avoided" he thought to himself.

 _ **She tells the crowd they won't have to be alone. Monroe flips a light switch and the armory lights up, showing that they've restocked it with weapons of all kinds. She says, thanks to Gerard, they have weapons and most of all they have each other. She says it won't be easy and goes against their nature as "protectors" but says they need to be like Nolan and Sydney, to keep their bravery in mind when they step out tonight to do "what you know you have to do."**_

"You're killing innocents. That is not a protector. That's an oppressor" Chris said coolly. "Why do you side with them?" Monroe asked quietly. "Because I know they are the good guys" Chris looked away leaving Monroe in deep thought.

 _ **She rips the arrow out of Ethan and instructs Sydney and Nolan to take the werewolf away. Nolan reluctantly takes the bloodied arrow and helps Sydney. Monroe turns to the crowd and tells them to help themselves to the weapons. The mob eagerly starts grabbing guns. Sydney and Nolan struggle to carry a staggering Ethan down the hallway. They cast him to the ground and the werewolf mumbles "Where is he? Where's Jackson?" Nolan grips the arrow and then stares at the blood on his hand. He looks up with a sense of resolve. Lydia is talking in her sleep as she twists and grips the sheets tightly. She awakes with a start and says, "Where's Jackson?"**_

"Parrot" Stiles coughs earning himself a glare.

 _ **The next morning in the school library, Nolan arrives to the frightened stares of the other students. Liam steps from the shadows in the stacks and points out that it doesn't feel good to have all the kids look at him like that. Nolan realizes that they're all afraid of him now. Liam clarifies that they're afraid of what he's going to say and to whom he might say it because nobody trusts him anymore. It seems Nolan texted Liam for the meet. He wonders aloud why Liam texted him back. Liam threatens to kick his ass. Nolan says he's there to help. He wants to show Liam something at the hospital. Liam says he could just tell him but Nolan says he has a plan. He'll show Liam what he needs to see at the hospital and then Liam will beat him up so Monroe will think the werewolf beat the information out of him. Liam likes the final part of the plan.**_

"Of course he does" Monroe snorted in disdain. "Well he did try and kill him a few times, beat him up, made him an outcast" Hayden pointed out angrily. Monroe looked at the angry young lady then turned away. Maybe this was her doing. Maybe pitting the humans against these creatures wasn't such a good idea. Maybe letting children do things like this to people they once considered friends was not the best thing. Maybe she could have sided with Scott to take down the real enemy, the Anuk-Ite.

 _ **Lydia goes in search of Scott at the McCall house, she finds Peter instead. He is there looking for Malia out of "parental concern." Apparently, the**_ _ **hunters**_ _ **have taken out some cell towers to isolate everyone and neither Lydia nor Peter can get through to Scott or Malia. They believe Monroe and Gerard are amassing troops on their side and set out to find the rest of**_ _ **their pack**_ _ **. Chris Argent has apparently tracked Derek Hale to North Carolina. He follows him into some abandoned metal sheds. Derek gets the jump on him and says Chris could have just called. Argent reminds Derek that he doesn't have a phone.**_

"You should keep a phone with you. At all times" Laura said seriously. "Right mom" Derek rolls his eyes.

 _ **He's apparently in North Carolina to visit another Hale vault. Chris seems surprised that the family has a vault in the eastern state. He says there's more than one Hale, so there's more than one vault.**_

"Peter's?" Stiles looked at Peter who shrugged. "Not that I know of" he said. "Must be one of our cousins" Talia shrugged.

 _ **Chris says he understands why Derek would want to stay away from the conflicts in Beacon Hills but says he doesn't think the young man wants to see**_ _ **Beacon Hills**_ _ **burn to the ground. Chris says they need him. Derek says "If I go back, it's not for Beacon Hills." He says there's something else he needs to take care of first and produces a vial of liquid**_ _ **yellow wolfsbane**_ _ **. He says whoever murdered the Brazilian**_ _ **werewolf pack**_ _ **was looking for the vial. He says it's not just a poison. Chris admits it's an antidote too. Derek asks if that's why Gerard is after it, but he already knows the answer. Derek wonders at the fact that Chris wants him to help stop Gerard when it was Chris that brought the old man back. Chris explains that Gerard's knowledge about the beast made him the ally they needed at that the time. They need Derek now.**_

"Well this time around, we won't need him so he can rot" Chris muttered. "I would prefer if he not survive at all this time" Allison muttered. Chris gave his daughter a sidewise look then looked away.

 _ **Headlights snap on, bathing both men in harsh white light. Three FBI agents step out with guns drawn and order that the men "don't move" and "put your hands in the air." Suddenly, a fourth figure steps up behind the agents, fires a bullet into each one, and then shoots Derek and Argent. Derek drops the vial of wolfsbane and as he scrambles along the ground to try to retrieve it, the shooter places a foot on the vial. It's**_ _ **Kate Argent**_ _ **.**_

"Great just what we were missing. The psychopath aunt" Allison groaned. "What a nice family reunion" Chris pursed his lips.

 _ **In keeping with her character, Kate opens with, "Hey handsome. Miss me?" She says he's as popular as ever. She credits his blue eyes before she kicks him in the head. She mentions his perfect cheekbones before smashing his face with the butt of her rifle. Derek says he thought it was his smile. Kate holds up the vial of Yellow Wolfsbane and demands to know "Where's the rest?" Derek questions why she's looking and if the one vial isn't enough to "save Gerard." He then questions her motives for seeking out the cure for her father pointing out that Kate is what Gerard hunts. This apparently pushes Kate. She points her rifle directly at Derek's head and points out that he can heal from one or two shots but probably wouldn't come back from a direct hit to the head.**_

"You'd be surprised by what I can recover from" Derek said hotly. "No you'll die from a head shot from a shot gun" Peter nodded wisely earning a glare from his nephew.

 _ **Chris Argent, apparently winged but not dead from Kate's earlier shot, unloads his pistol into his sister. She retreats behind one of the vehicles and screams "You've always got to ruin a good time Chris!" Argent points out that his father is full of hate and won't have any love left over for Kate. She says she doesn't want love, she wants revenge. The yellow Wolfsbane is going in a bullet intended to kill Scott McCall. Derek goes after Kate and tells Chris to go back to Beacon Hills to warn Scott. Scott and Malia join Deucalion in the center of a large lot full of metal shipping containers. The former**_ _ **Alpha Pack**_ _ **leader stands atop one of the containers and points out that echolocation is hard.**_

"Understatement" Talia muttered under her breath. She had once tried to learn it in case of a situation where she couldn't see her enemies. Let's just says she could sit straight for a week or so.

 _ **He says they can't learn in one day what took him years to master. He points out that an orientation and mobility specialist must train blindfolded with a white cane for 120 hours before becoming certified. He says he can't teach them to walk and fight in less than 24 hours. Scott admits the odds are bad but they need to fight the creature generating all the fear and violence that's turning people into killers and they need to fight it without looking at it and getting turned to stone. Deucalion wonders why they aren't all running for their lives. Scott says they don't run. Deucalion says he sounds like an Alpha.**_

"Maybe because he is one?" Corey raised an eyebrow. "Not what he meant" Mason chuckled.

 _ **Deucalion says one problem with teaching the pack to fight blind is that they're not actually blind. If they try to fight with their eyes closed, one stray glance will get them killed. He points out that human's eyes go wide when they're afraid, it's an evolved instinct in order to let in more light so they can better survey their surroundings and face or run from the threat. In this instance, the instinct will get them turned to stone.**_

"Well isn't that nice" Stiles scowled. There had to be some way to curb that instinct.

 _ **Malia is convinced she can keep her eyes closed. Deucalion proves her wrong by throwing a rock at one of the containers. The noise prompts Malia to look. They admit it'll be hard but not impossible. Deucalion begins "sleepshade" training by blindfolding both of them. He plans to begin with echolocation (sound), then thermoception (changes in temperature), equilibrioception (balance), proprioception (touch). Each of those senses is necessary to move about the world without sight.**_

"Those are some big words" Liam muttered. "No need to very think and hurt your little head" Hayden patted his head with a smile.

 _ **Deucalion begins the lesson on echolocation saying that, because werewolves and werecoyotes hearing is 100 times more powerful than a human, they can pick up natural reflected sound. He bangs on one of the metal containers to demonstrate. While they can easily hear the noise, he points out that they'll have to read the echoes and how they bounce off objects in order to determine where he is. He bangs again. They listen, but Deucalion manages to walk right past them without them noticing. They turn only when he speaks. He bangs again and they follow toward the sound. Malia bangs into a container with her face.**_

"I don't think that's how it's done" Peter muttered then groaned when he got punched in the gut.

 _ **Deucalion repeats the lesson as they struggle to find him amid the echoing sounds. He leads them out of the stacked containers and into an area of concrete stalls. They follow as he taps the cane on the ground and across the parking lot. He stops making noise and easily takes them both out with the cane.**_

"That was too easy" Scott sighed. "You are just learning" Allison said soothingly and rubbed his back.

 _ **A little while later, Deucalion arranges the blindfolded Malia and Scott back to back. He explains that while humans mainly sense temperature through the skin, the eye of werewolves are particularly sensitive to heat as well. He flashes his eyes red and can see the heat rising off of Scott and Malia. Scott asks how they are supposed to do it without their eyes. Deucalion says "Focus on your skin, the minute temperature changes." He orders them to face each other. Scott can "see" a hazy purple and yellow outline of Malia. Deucalion instructs Malia to kick Scott's ass. Malia can see a much clearer heat image of Scott and promptly punches him in the chest. All the air goes out of him and he bends over.**_

"Ouch" Stiles winced. "That's gotta hurt" Parrish whistles.

 _ **Deucalion instructs Scott to defend himself. Malia apparently has a much better perception of Scott and punches him square in the face. She apologizes and Deucalion berates her saying, "Don't be sorry! Hit him again." This time Scott's "vision" clears and he sees Malia's punch coming. He ducks and she hits the concrete post. Deucalion says he's starting to wish he was blind again.**_

The room snorted in unison.

 _ **Later still, Malia stands off to one side watching as Deucalion instructs a blindfolded Scott to "Stop looking for me. Listen. Sense the rise and fall of temperature. Feel the pressure beneath your feet. Know, with absolute certainty, my location, my speed, even my method of attack." Scott only has a hazy outline in his mind of where Deucalion might be. The older werewolf kicks him squarely in the stomach and he lands with a thud. Deucalion says he's dead again. Scott is eager to go again, but Malia says they should try something else. Scott says they have no choice. He doesn't believe all the fear and hatred is real and says they must defeat the Anuk-Ite so that the population won't be so afraid and Gerard will lose most of his army. Duecalion speculates that the people of Beacon Hills may actually be like that without any supernatural help. He says maybe the Anuk-Ite just gives people permission to act on whatever awful truth lies within them. Scott says he doesn't want to believe that. Malia agrees.**_

"As much as I would like to admit it" Noah began. "Deucalion might be right" Claudia finished for him with a sigh.

 _ **Deucalion tells him to lose the blindfold, close his eyes, and try it again. The Alpha says he won't hold back this time, he'll be coming at Scott for real. Deuc says he doesn't know how to fight, he knows how to kill people. His eyes flash red, Scott closes his eyes, and Deucalion attacks. Nolan and Liam arrive at the hospital. Nolan points out that a couple of the nurses are also now part of the hunter army and picked up weapons at the armory during Monroe's speech. He says they were trained on how to use the guns "last night" as well. Liam says he already knew that people hated them and didn't need Nolan to show him that. Nolan says there's more. In the tunnels,**_ _ **Jordan Parrish**_ _ **runs and quickly opens Chris Argent's bunker. Inside Noah Stilinski pulls a gun on him. Parrish reports that Monroe is at the station pulling police reports of accidents and other severe injuries going back a decade. The sheriff says Melissa told him she saw something similar at the hospital. The hunters are looking for anyone who appeared to miraculously survive or quickly heal from what should have been fatal accidents and injuries.**_

"This isn't good" Lydia bit her lips. "Lydia. Nothing is good here" Stiles pointed out with a smile.

 _ **Apparently, Agent McCall reported to the sheriff that he saw kids with hand injuries at the school. He's worked out that they were being tested to see how quickly they heal. The hunters are making a list of all the supernaturals. They realize everyone is involved - all their neighbors - and that it's not just random but an organized operation. The sheriff says they need to find out exactly when it's happening. Parrish's radio squawks, a female voice calls for "unit 10" and says they've got a "217" at**_ _ **Eichen House**_ _ **and need all units in the area to report. Parrish reports that he's not in the area and she says they need "all available units." He says he's on his way. The sheriff tells him to remember that they know what he is and to proceed with caution.**_

"That feels like a trap" Claudia mumbled. "Probably is" Stiles sighed.

 _ **Nolan leads Liam up to the intensive care unit where three people are unconscious on beds. Nolan says the hunters moved them there "last night." Each is attached to a bag delivering a purple liquid intravenously. The bags are full of purple liquid, which Liam recognizes as Wolfsbane. Lydia and Peter go to the vet clinic looking for Scott and Malia. They're not there. Peter presses Lydia on why it's so urgent to find Scott and she tells him about the dream she had where she woke up asking "Where's Jackson?" Apparently, in the dream, she was in a blue metal shipping container. There were webs all around and when she touched them they spoke to her and she saw visions. She saw Peter in the school hallway turned to stone. Ethan and Jackson suffer the same fate in the locker room as the Anuk-Ite looks at them in turn. She sees Malia and Derek stoned as well. She hears whispers and a heartbeat. She walks further into the dream and finds Scott turned to stone.**_

"Shit" Stiles swore. "It can be changed" Scott said firmly. He so wanted to believe it but even he knew it won't be easy.

 _ **Peter asks if she ever sees anything even remotely optimistic. She says it's optimistic if they can prevent it. Peter says he knows where the shipping containers are. They set out to find Scott. Liam calls Mason who warns him not to pull out the wolfsbane IVs because they don't know what might happen. He and Corey are on the way and he says to wait until they get there. Liam agrees and tells him to hurry. Nolan is ready to go. Liam reminds him that he is supposed to kick the other boy's ass to make it look like he put up a fight. Nolan points out that no one saw them come in together so that part of the plan won't be necessary. Liam is disappointed since that was the only part of the plan he liked, but he tells the boy to go.**_

Monroe's eyes twitched slightly. The wolf did not lash out like he wanted to. Maybe he was one of the better ones.

 _ **As Nolan passes through the waiting area,**_ _ **Gabe**_ _ **grabs his arm. He leads him into the morgue and explains that all this was a setup. Monroe knew Nolan would try to warn the werewolves and set it all up to trap some of them at the hospital. Gabe punches Nolan in the face repeatedly until he is unconscious. Gabe smiles.**_

"You corrupted a perfectly healthy boy" Noah pointed at Monroe angrily. "I did no such things. He could have come on his own free will" Monroe said. "When you put it into his head that every supernatural creature wanted him dead, what did you expect?" Claudia said in anger. Monroe did not have a reply to this.

 _ **Driving through Beacon Hills, Mason notes how deserted the streets are. Corey says it's like everyone is getting ready for a storm. Mason says it's Kristallnacht, the night of broken glass. He explains how the Nazis attacked their Jewish neighbors in Germany and Austria in a wave of violence. More than 200 synagogues were destroyed, people were dragged out of their homes, attacked and murdered. Almost 30,000 Jewish people were arrested all in one night. Corey realizes that is what is going to happen in Beacon Hills to the supernaturals. They arrive at the hospital and notice everyone is looking at them, Mason senses that it's a trap. They duck into one of the treatment rooms and Corey says they are bait. Three armed hunters enter and chain the hospital doors closed. An EMT says they can't, but they point a gun at him. He lets them pass. They leave a device labeled "cell phone blocker" on the front desk of the hospital.**_

"You know. I think we would have known what it was even e=if they hadn't labelled it" Theo rolled his eyes.

 _ **In the ICU, Liam waits. The hospital power goes out and emergency lighting comes on. Back in the concrete stalls, Deucalion is whipping Scott mercilessly with his cane. He sweeps Scott's leg and the young man goes down. Malia whispers "Hit him." Scott feels the vibrations through the floor. He glances back over his shoulder, and, when the next strike comes, he catches Deucalion's cane before it can hit him. He then moves in close, grabs the older man's arm, and flips him to the ground. Deucalion laughs and says Scott might just survive.**_

"Only just" Stiles chuckled. There might be hope here. "I'm surprised he read the vibrations rather than anything else" Laura said. "Maybe that's his thing. Sensing the vibrations and stuff" Derek shrugged.

 _ **As Scott helps Deucalion to his feet, Lydia and Peter arrive. She says, "None of us are going to survive this."**_

"Ever the pep talker" Peter rolls his eyes.

 _ **Peter warns that Monroe and a lot more are coming with heavy firepower. Several shots from automatic weapons fire hit Deucalion and he goes down.**_

They all blinked in shock except Monroe. "Did they just" Laura muttered in horror and Talia nodded gently, eyes flashing almost red dangerously.

 _ **Monroe stands behind the shooter. Other hunters open fire on the group. Scott, Malia, Lydia, and Peter dive for cover. Monroe raises and fires her handgun.**_

They all turned to Monroe who had her eyes closed and was muttering something to herself. "She's gone crazy hasn't she" Stiles muttered. "More like she is beginning to question herself" Lydia said.

/ For those who wanted my twitter link so I could update you guys in case I couldn't update my stories, this is it: /infernafee

Also if you guys have any suggestions on any of my stories, you can tweet at me anytime and I'll try to get to you as fast as I can ^_^/


	113. 6-20

_**At some unknown point in the future, Scott McCall awakens on a bed in a motel room. Hearing a knock at the door, he rises and opens it to find Chris Argent. Chris gets in his SUV. Scott gets on his motorcycle. The skyline of Los Angeles can be clearly seen in the background. Over various scenes of a young man running through back alleys, Scott narrates.**_

"Oooooh story teller Scott" Stiles rubs his hands together getting a good feeling.

" _ **I'm going to tell you a story. Maybe it will sound familiar. There was this kid, 16, alone, and running for his life. He couldn't see them, but he could hear them getting closer. They had guns, crossbows. They were hunting him."**_ _ **Two hunters catch up to the teen and fire a crossbow at him. He begins to run again. They give chase. Firing on him with the bow twice more. One arrow apparently hits him in the thigh. There is a trail of blood in an abandoned office space. The boy is limping badly as Scott continues.**_ _ **"It started on the night of a full moon. Something came at him. Something bit him and it changed his life. It changed everything."**_ _ **The young man hears a roar, the sounds of gunfire and fighting behind plastic sheeting hanging from the office ceiling. He can go no further and sinks to the floor. Scott comes around the plastic, his eyes glow red. The boy's eyes light up golden yellow. Scott and Argent approach the boy, and the Alpha pulls the arrow from his leg. The boy screams.**_

"Alpha Scott to the rescue" Mason cheers. "But what about the war?" Hayden asked but no one could tell. "This could be part of it" Allison pointed out but even she wasn't sure of it.

 _ **Later, in Argent's SUV, Scott asks the boy his name and if the story he's telling sounds familiar to his own experience. The young man's name is**_ _ **Alec**_ _ **, he asks if Scott was telling his own story. Scott says there were a number of things he didn't expect including that fact that people who he thought would be with him forever were the ones he lost.**_

Allison smiled sadly and cuddled into him.

 _ **He also notes enemies who became allies and saved his life more than once.**_

Peter and Theo blinked before Peter smirked and Theo relaxed in his chair.

 _ **Alec says everyone in his story is dead. Scott points out that Alec is not dead and he's now with them. Alec wonders aloud how Scott's story will end.**_

"Pessimist" Lydia muttered. "Pot meet kettle" Stiles chuckled.

 _ **Tamora Monroe**_ _ **and the hunters move in on**_ _ **Scott's Pack**_ _ **from all sides. Peter, Malia, Lydia, and Scott take cover behind concrete columns and steel barrels. One hunter gets in position for a clear shot directly at Scott. He is mowed down by Stiles' Jeep.**_

"I hope you killed him" Malia muttered. "Preferably not" Claudia added with a hard edge in her voice making Malia shrink a little for reasons she didn't know.

 _ **Stiles and**_ _ **Derek**_ _ **join the fight. The latter leaps into the air, flashing eyes and fangs, he wades into the hunters without mercy.**_

"Show off" Laura muttered and Derek rolled his eyes.

 _ **He disarms and takes down several. Malia and Peter join the fray and remove enough of the hunter's numbers that the armed men and women retreat to their vehicles and flee.**_ _ **Stiles**_ _ **manages to grouse a bit about how Lydia didn't tell him about any of the stuff going on since he's been away. She says they had really good reasons.**_

"Keeping you alive is a good reason" Lydia insisted at the look she got.

 _ **Scott bends over**_ _ **Deucalion**_ _ **who appears to be dying from the several bullets he took at the beginning of the hunter's attack. He manages to say that Gerard fears Scott the most because he knows he can't beat Scott. Deucalion appears to die.**_

"Normal bullets shouldn't be able to kill a wolf" Laura muttered in disbelief. "They can if they are filled with wolfsbane" Talia muttered angrily.

 _ **Scott brings Stiles up to speed saying the conflict with the hunters is now an all-out war. Scott hugs Derek tightly. Peter wonders why he came back. Derek explains about the pack in Brazil and "Beacon Hills" written in blood on the wall. Scott asks if he came back for Beacon Hills and Derek says no. He came back for Scott.**_

"Awww you do have a heart" Stiles teased then yelped when Derek growled.

 _ **Gerard's voice comes from the police band radio in Stiles' Jeep.**_ _ **"Blood and destruction, dreadful objects so familiar. All pity choked with custom of fell deeds. Caesar's spirit, ranging for revenge, with Ate by his side come hot from hell, shall in these confines with a monarch's voice …"**_ _ **The radio signal futzes out. Then Gerard asks if Scott knows his Shakespeare and knows the next line.**_

"Knowing Scott he doesn't" Allison shook her head with a chuckle. "Yeah you're right" Scott chuckled as well.

 _ **Derek motions for Scott to that he knows. Scott holds up the radio handset and Derek says "Cry 'Havoc!' and let slip the dogs of war." Gerard recognizes Derek's voice and welcomes him back. He then asks if Scott is pleased with his family reunion and takes credit for gathering them all together. Scott invites Gerard to come join them so he can thank him in person.**_

"With a very tight hug. Right around his neck" Stiles chuckled darkly. Lydia stared at Stiles for a moment before snorting.

 _ **Gerard says he also has visitors from London.**_ _ **Jackson**_ _ **is dangling from a pipe with his hands chained over his head. Gerard sticks him with a taser stick and Jackson cries out. The young man mocks Gerard and says he's going to shove the taser up the old man's ass.**_

"Oh please do. Stick up far and turn it on" Liam chuckled darkly. "Being here for too long is having an effect on him" Mason whispered to Corey who chuckled.

 _ **Gerard explains that they've lured all Scott's allies into traps.**_ _ **Jordan Parrish**_ _ **is trapped in Eichen House after he was sent there by a Sheriff's dispatcher. Scott's dad,**_ _ **Agent McCall**_ _ **is locked up after being intercepted by hunters on his way back from San Francisco. Liam, Corey, and Mason are trapped in the hospital with hunters searching for them and one hunter playing possum in a hospital bed.**_

"That doesn't look good" Hayden bit her lips in worry. "No it does not" Melissa mumbled.

 _ **Gerard seems very proud of himself saying the strategic positioning of "your army against theirs" is how you wage war. He says Scott's resources are spread thin, meaning he won't be able to save them all and will have to come to Gerard in the end and will ultimately fail. He then says the dogs of war are coming for Scott.**_

"Little do they know Scott has a plan" Stiles smirked. "He does/I do?" Allison and Scott said in unison. "Knowing you" Stiles shrugged making them both snort.

 _ **Scott calls**_ _ **Theo**_ _ **and asks him to rescue the pack members and his mother stuck in the hospital. Scott says it will buy them more time to both come up with a plan and to get help. Stiles relates how, on his first day with the FBI, he learned Derek was a fugitive in North Carolina. Derek was trying to get information about a group of hunters down there and the FBI apparently found out about it and planned to move in. Stiles managed to talk his superiors into taking him along on the operation to capture Derek. He claims he saved Derek's life by practically carrying him out of the battle.**_

"That is so not what happened" Lydia deadpanned. "That can happen!" Stiles said feigning hurt and Lydia rolled her eyes.

 _ **Derek says it happened differently, he actually carried Stiles out of the fray after he apparently lost a toe to friendly fire and was unable to walk.**_

"See that's what can happen" Lydia points out making Stiles pout.

 _ **Scott brings them back to the war and explains that they're also fighting the**_ _ **Anuk-Ite**_ _ **. At the hospital,**_ _ **Mason**_ _ **and**_ _ **Corey**_ _ **are still hiding. Cell signals are jammed and Mason says they can't wait around for help, but they also can't leave without Liam. They decide to take the fight to the hunters who are searching for them. Mason tells Corey that he loves him and Corey says it back. Mason says they might die, but Corey says they won't. The couple kisses. Corey grabs his hand and they disappear.**_

"Unless they have some way to see through your shifting, you'll be safe" Talia mumbled.

 _ **Melissa McCall**_ _ **cracks a package of ammonium carbonate under**_ _ **Nolan**_ _ **'s nose. The boy awakens in the morgue. She asks who knocked him out, whether it was her friends or his. Nolan says he doesn't have any friends. She gets him to his feet and says they'll need his help to take back the hospital. Gerard offers Monroe a**_ _ **Yellow Wolfsbane**_ _ **-filled bullet. He says it's very rare and there is no more. Monroe says it's more than enough to kill an Alpha.**_

"If she can hit" Peter added. "What makes you think I can't?" Monroe raised an eyebrow. "You've never taken someone on under the influence of the Anuk-Ite. Something I'm sure is gonna be a factor" Peter smirked.

 _ **Scott continues explaining the Anuk-Ite. He says it can get inside your head and make you see things. Stiles asks what it looks like and Lydia explains how it merged from two people into one creature and adds that it's made of two faces, one human the other supernatural.**_

"It's ugly. Plain and simple, it's ugly" Stiles deadpanned.

 _ **Scott adds that the supernatural creature was a shapeshifter just like them and says it knows what you fear most. Malia adds that it can kill you just by looking at you. Stiles is incredulous that they have to go up against it blind and face their deepest fear. He says he fears blindness the most making the current predicament "a situation of unfortunate overlap." Scott sends Lydia and Stiles to find Chris before heading to Gerard's armory to rescue Jackson. Lydia says there's no time to wait for Chris. She says they've gotten through the armory door before and can handle it. Stiles questions why they're doing exactly what Gerard wants them to do. Scott says his plan rests on stopping the Anuk-Ite. He believes doing that will stop the war because not all of Gerard's army are hunters. The ordinary people of Beacon Hills who've joined against the supernatural are doing so out of fear. If they can remove the supernatural component of that fear, they have a chance to end the war.**_

"They'll see things clearer" Laura nodded with a hum. "But will they stop? What if they see you guys as threatening as the thing" she asked. "They won't. Believe it or not many of the people in Beacon Hills were always aware of the supernatural but didn't care much" Chris mumbled, speaking from personal experiences.

 _ **Malia is on board with the plan but points out that they still need to figure out how to catch the Anuk-Ite. Scott says they'll do it because they always do. Lydia says they'll buy Scott some time to figure it out and Malia suggests Chris Argent might come back with one. Scott says he'll need Peter, Derek and Malia to help him fight the creature at the High School. He is confident the Anuk-Ite will find them there.**_

"Because the thing is after Scott" Peter explained to a confused looking Malia. "I know that" she snapped. She was not confused but rather worried at the moment.

 _ **Peter Hale**_ _ **is at the school examining two hunters who've apparently been turned to stone. He's on the phone with Malia. Once he describes the state of the bodies, she tells him to close his eyes. He appears not to hear her and disconnects the call. He walks into the school and hears Malia's voice calling him "Dad." He feels something coming up behind him and turns to look. Peter is turned to stone by the Anuk-Ite.**_

"Dude!" Stiles groaned. "Right right" Peter groans. The only moment Malia had called him dad was in the station and he was foolish to think she would call her that right now.

 _ **In the Armory, his hands still cuffed and chained to a pipe over his head, Jackson begins to taunt the hunter guarding him. He explains that the young man should be afraid of him because he is part Kanima. He points out his claws and invites the guard to have a look. This somehow manages to lure the man over to him.**_

"Idiot" Allison muttered. This idiocy might just be what saves Jackson.

 _ **Jackson explains how his claws produce paralyzing venom and, with what appears to be quite a bit of effort, shows him his Kanima eyes. Jackson says he can no longer change completely and compares it to having a Tiptronic transmission which allows a car to switch from automatic to manual drive. Jackson says his Kanima traits are like that, he can switch at will.**_

"Wait doesn't that mean" Stiles began but was hushed by Lydia who had guessed what he wanted to say.

 _ **He then begins talking about cars and explains that he used to drive a Porsche but had to give up sports cars because there was no room for his tail. With visible effort, he flips his tail up, wraps it around the guard's neck, and slams him into the wall.**_

"Yup" Lydia answers his unfinished question with a giggle.

 _ **Scott and Malia find Peter's petrified body at the school. Malia doesn't want to believe her father is dead. Derek listens and hears a faint heartbeat inside his uncle's chest.**_

"Well that's good. I'm too young to die" Peter smirked making Malia roll her eyes. But even she looked relieved.

 _ **They hear footsteps, but Scott seems mesmerized by the statue-like Peter. He stares at the former alpha and says he thinks he knows how to catch the Anuk-Ite.**_

"Make him look at statues?" Liam asked in confusion. "Shush and you'll find out" Hayden hissed.

 _ **Jackson prepares himself to break down the door and make his escape from Gerard's armory. At that moment, he hears gunshots and a**_ _ **Banshee**_ _ **scream right outside the door. Stiles bursts in much to Jackson's surprise. Lydia, squealing, runs full force into Jackson's arms and hugs him tightly.**_

Stiles snorts but on the inside, he was feeling a slight pull of jealousy.

 _ **Jackson smiles and embraces her. Stiles finds this a bit awkward and eventually pries the former lovers apart. Jackson is impressed that Lydia managed to take out all the guards. Stiles claims he kicked down the door. Jackson says they can't leave without Ethan. Lydia and Stiles don't understand why the former Alpha Pack twin is there "with" Jackson. The truth dawns on them and Lydia says, "Oh my God. I thought you'd never figure it out." Jackson laughs and they set out to find his beau.**_

Lydia looked at Stiles who looked slightly uncomfortable. She put her hand on his and grabbed his hand lightly feeling Stiles relax.

 _ **Scott calls Stiles and, upon learning he's still at the armory, tells him to grab something from Gerard's hidden vault, which he does. Liam is still hiding out in the hospital with the four patients on the wolfsbane IVs. The man in the last bed is only pretending to be unconscious. He retrieves a gun from his bedding and gets off several shots before Liam throws him into the hallway unconscious.**_

"Nicely done" Mason claps him on the back with a laugh.

 _ **Liam enters the hall to check on the downed man and several hunters are waiting, guns drawn.**_ _ **Gabe**_ _ **tells them to wait. He wants to take the shot himself. He tells Liam to run because that would be more fun. Liam backs toward the elevator. The doors open and Theo pulls him inside to safety as the hunters open fire.**_

"Ugh a junior Gerard" Allison said in disgust. Monroe blinked. She could not believe the kid would be cruel like that. "What have I done?" she thought in horror.

 _ **Hunters continue patrolling the school. Hiding out of sight on the stairs, Malia is impatient. She says Peter won't last long in his petrified state. Scott insists they wait for Stiles but Malia goes off on her own.**_

"Don't do that!" Peter said sternly shocking Malia. "I do what I want" she growled.

 _ **Scott follows her into the hallway where Monroe is waiting. She fires one shot and strikes Scott in the shoulder.**_

Monroe smirked at Peter who was too caught up with his daughter's safety to notice.

 _ **He says he's okay and tells Malia to get Monroe. With fangs and blue eyes flashing, Malia chases the other woman. Derek realizes that the bullet inside Scott is filled with Yellow Wolfsbane and says it will kill him. Invisible, Mason and Corey manage to take out two hunters with a partially filled bedpan.**_

"Ew" Hayden made a face mimicked on Liam's face.

 _ **Lydia, Stiles, and Jackson find Ethan who is curious how Jackson escaped before he did. Jackson says he talked his way out of it, but Ethan says he used the tail. This information surprises Lydia. Ethan says the tail is "so gross."**_

"I wonder if he uses it in bed" Lydia thought out loud making everyone groan.

 _ **In the elevator, Liam and Theo agree to fight the hunters together. The doors open to gunfire, but the werewolf and the chimera manage to dodge the weapons and take out several hunters. While it appears they got them all, one man is still able to kneel and aim at the pair. Melissa McCall steps around the corner with her taser stick and incapacitates him. Nolan then runs up, grabs one of the discarded guns and rams it into the head of another hunter who is trying to fire. Nolan then sees Gabe at the end of the hall and shouts a warning just before the young hunter opens fire.**_

"That was cool" Liam mumbled then swore when Hayden punched him in the face. "Those bullets probably made a net out of Gabe's body" she says seriously.

 _ **Derek manages to get Scott into one of the classrooms. He says there's only one way to get the yellow wolfsbane out and that is to burn it. He finds a small torch inside one of the cabinets.**_

"Convenient" Stiles muttered. "It's a lab" Lydia pointed out. "Still to find a torch lying around like that" Stiles mumbled.

 _ **He says Scott won't be able to help anyone until he heals. Scott protests and says they just need to wait for Stiles to get there. Derek lights the torch and places the jet of blue flame against Scott's wound. He roars in agony and collapses to the floor unconscious. Derek is struck by fear. He flashes his eyes and fangs and wanders out into the hallway.**_

"Damnit Derek" Laura groaned.

 _ **Lydia, Ethan, and Jackson arrive at the school and are instantly overwhelmed by fear. Lydia tells them to shut their eyes. Inside**_ _ **Eichen House**_ _ **, three deputies have Parrish inside**_ _ **Halwyn**_ _ **'s cell. They've turned on the freezer and Parrish shivers. They wonder aloud if he's dying and**_ _ **Noah Stilinski**_ _ **pipes up that he doubts it because Parrish is a**_ _ **Hellhound**_ _ **and they are notoriously hard to kill. One of the deputies draws his sidearm and says they're not letting Noah take Parrish out. Noah says there's only three of them. This is amusing to the deputy. He scoffs, "What are you, like 60?" Noah beats them all and leaves them bloody. He opens the door and orders them to help Parrish up and out. They comply and call him by his proper title once more.**_

"Respect!" Mason shouts making Noah chuckle.

 _ **Inside the school, Lydia has become separated from the London werewolves. She finds Malia turned to stone inside the councilor's office.**_

Peter purses his lips tightly into a thin line while Malia just watched quietly.

 _ **Jackson is trying to make his way through the locker room with his eyes closed. He calls out to Ethan, who apparently calls back. Jackson asks where he is and hears "right in front of you." When he opens his eyes, the Anuk-Ite is staring back at him. Jackson turns to stone. As the creature exits, it passes an equally immobile Ethan.**_

"God damnit!" Lydia groans.

 _ **The Sheriff and Parrish return to the station and retrieve Agent McCall from the cell where the hunters were keeping him. The sheriff's plan is for the officers to disarm the civilians who got their guns from Gerard. Derek wanders into the hall, he is still on high alert with eyes glowing and fangs visible. He hears the voice of**_ _ **Jennifer Blake**_ _ **and sees a shadow coming around the corner. He turns away and shuts his eyes tight. The Anuk-Ite comes around the corner wearing Jennifer's false face. She asks if Derek is willing to give her another chance or does he plan to leave her to die again.**_

"That's plain evil" Laura shouted. "The thing is plain evil" Stiles shouted back.

 _ **She tells him to open his eyes. He lashes out with his arm, but she catches his wrist and caresses her body with his hand. She whispers that she knows he wants to look at her one more time. He manages to hold out a little longer, snatching his hand back and taking a breath, but, eventually, he gives in and raises his eyelids. The Anuk-Ite is reflected in his pupils as he turns to stone.**_

Laura groans as Talia looked critically at the screen.

 _ **Kate Argent**_ _ **searches the armory, growing ever more frustrated that she can't find what she's looking for. Gerard laughs at her saying he would never trust her with the last few ounces of Yellow Wolfsbane because she's one of "them." Kate is livid that he apparently gave it all to Monroe. Gerard says he kept enough for one last bullet. He shoots Kate in the gut.**_

"We all saw this coming" Chris said out loud when many of them were shocked. "There was never another option for Gerard" Allison snarled. Monroe still looked shocked, the thing may have been not human but she was still his daughter and he shot her so easily.

 _ **Kate writhes on the floor of the armory bleeding from the gut. Gerard says it's over because everything fell into place. Chris arrives and says Scott is still alive and knows how to save everyone. Hunters discover petrified Peter at the school. They radio to Monroe about their find saying Peter looks vulnerable. Scott makes his way into the library and hides as he continues to heal. He hears what seems to be Stiles voice taunting him about hiding. It's not Stiles, it is the Anuk-Ite in the guise of**_ _ **Void Stiles**_ _ **. He urges Scott to open his eyes. He claims all Scott's friends are gone. He says they saw his face and "it drove them insane." He says they're gone because Scott failed them.**_

"The thing really knows the weaknesses well" Allison muttered. "Must be a mind reader" Chris muttered.

 _ **The creature switches his appearance to the original bandaged and bomber-jacketed**_ _ **Nogitsune**_ _ **and continues his taunts by saying Scott failed everyone especially Allison. This last draws Scott out as he tries to attack the creature without looking. He swings and misses. The Anuk-Ite takes the appearance of Derek and swipes at him with his claws. It then appears as Malia and again tells Scott to open his eyes while trying to claw at him.**_

"Okay this could be too much" Stiles mumbled, holding Lydia's hands tightly.

 _ **Scott screams but keeps his eyes tightly shut. As Scott tries to use his echolocation, A banshee scream shakes the building and the doors to the courtyard slam closed. Scott covers his ears but his hearing seems damaged since he was so focused on picking up where the creature might be.**_

"Sorry" Lydia said sheepishly. "It's okay" Scott just smiled.

 _ **It appears again as Void Stiles and tells Scott to open his eyes. The nogitsune reappears and explains that Scott's fear is different. He says there's power underneath his fear. He says Scott's fear brings it freedom and that it won't allow itself to be caught and caged again. It grabs Scott by the throat and demands he open his eyes. Scott does not comply. He says he now knows how to fight and how to catch the Anuk-Ite. Scott breaks free and knocks the creature back.**_

"Yes Scott!" Stiles cheered followed by the others.

 _ **Scott then jabs his claws into his own eyes, and, screaming, blinds himself.**_

"No Scott!" Stiles screamed in horror. "Are you out of your mind!?" Melissa screeched at her son. "It's the only way!" Scott said then yelped when Allison hit him with a pillow. "I'll heal. OW stop Allison!" Scott shouted in between the hits from the pillow. "You fucking better not repeat that stunt ever again!" Allison glared at her boyfriend and stopped with the pillow.

 _ **Liam tries to wrestle the gun away from Gabe. A hunter is watching the fight with gun drawn, but he radios Monroe that he can't get a clear shot because Gabe is in the way. Monroe orders him to shoot them both.**_

"You would actually kill one of your own?" Hayden raised an eyebrow. Monroe opened her mouth but no words could escape. Would she really do that? "It's the Anuk-Ite. She won't harm her own" Scott said making Monroe jumped. "What makes you say that?" she asked shakily. "You're not Gerard" he replied with a smile and Monroe shrunk into herself slightly.

 _ **Liam gets in a headbutt and separates from Gabe. The other hunter opens fire, hitting Gabe several times in the chest. Nolan comes up behind and bonks him on the head with a fire extinguisher, knocking him out. Gabe falls to the floor. Scott is blind. He uses his other sense – hearing, touch, and his ability to sense heat – to survey the area around him. The Anuk-Ite appears as a**_ _ **Berserker**_ _ **and attempts to take Scott out with its boney armor. Scott successfully dodges. It comes at him again, but Scott shoves it away and announces that he's not afraid of it anymore.**_

"The other senses are covering for the sense he just lost" Chris muttered. "You can't be afraid of things you never see" Talia added with a smirk.

 _ **Monroe instructs the hunters at the school to put a bullet into stoned Derek's head and another one in his heart. She prepares to do the same to statue Peter. Chris informs his father that even if the Yellow Wolfsbane was just meant to weaken, Scott figured it out like he always does. Scott engages the Anuk-Ite explaining that he understands that the creature wanted enough power to avoid being trapped again. He says the creature wanted the power of a shapeshifter. Unfortunately for Anuk-Ite, when it took that power from Quinn, it is also bound by all the rules and inherited all the weaknesses of a shapeshifter. It dawns on Gerard that Scott figured out that**_ _ **Mountain Ash**_ _ **can now trap the Anuk-Ite because it is part shapeshifter.**_

"You clever dog!" Stiles laughed and slapped him hard on the back making him cough.

 _ **Stiles runs into the library with eyes wide open. In the second the Anuk-Ite registers his presence, Stiles throws a jar of Mountain Ash on the ground. The powder spreads out from the impact point and envelopes the Anuk-Ite in a cloud. The creature is coated with it and begins to turn to stone.**_

"Just like that?" Hayden blinked. "Just like that" Stiles sighed in relief. "But how?" Mason gapes. "Mountain ash traps any shape shifter inside a hard to break shell in the best way to never let it escape. For the Anuk-Ite it's a full body petrification" Peter explained. "Still very confused" Liam said. "The properties of mountain ash is not fully known so that's as best as we can explain" Talia said.

 _ **In the hallway, the stone covering Derek begins to crack. Once free, he takes out the hunters that were about to shoot him. Peter does the same. Monroe runs away but Peter knocks down the remaining hunter. Jackson and Ethan find themselves free in the locker room. Just when they think it's over, a hunter comes in with a large rifle and aims it at them. Coach appears screaming from the lockers and beats the hunter senseless with a lacrosse stick. He announces, "Now it's over," and heads for his office. Jackson says, "Good to see you Coach." He replies, "You too Jackson."**_

"That was" Stiles blinked. "Something" Lydia tried not to laugh. "He knows everything and doesn't care" Chris said with a smile, punctuating his earlier point to a certain hunter.

 _ **Gabe, bleeding, crawls across the hospital floor toward a bank of lighted storage containers. He manages to sit up and says it hurts. Theo comes over to the boy, takes his hand and begins taking his pain away as Corey and Mason join the group. Nolan is in tears.**_

"Someone began to care" Corey threw Theo a smirk but he didn't react to it.

 _ **Gerard snarls at his son, "You let this happen." This strikes Kate as very funny despite her wounds. She says Gerard let it happen and calls him a stupid old man for solely focusing on Scott. Gerard says Scott destroyed their family. Chris says his family is standing right in front of him and turns to walk away. Kate transforms into a**_ _ **Werejaguar**_ _ **and attacks Gerard. Chris walks out to the screams of his father.**_

"Finally someone took care of him" Allison sighed in relief. She never wanted to see that bastard ever again.

 _ **Noah Stilinski, Parrish and Agent McCall face off with some hunters inside the hospital. The sheriff shouts for them to drop their weapons. When they don't comply, he turns to Parrish and tells him to "drop their weapons." A wave of heat rises off Parrish and envelops the hunters, the metal of their guns heats up until they can no longer hold them and they drop them to the floor. McCall says Parrish needs to teach him how to do that.**_

"Get yourself a hell hound" Noah laughed joined in by Rafael.

 _ **Monroe is frantic. From the school, she calls over the radio for a status report and becomes more agitated when none of the hunters respond. The bodies of fallen hunters litter the floor. She yells, "pick up the radio and tell me what's happening!" At the hospital, Liam picks up the radio and says, "You lost." Monroe throws the radio.**_

"Oooooooooooh" Mason shouts, hoisting Liam up on his shoulders. "Dude let me down!" Liam groaned. Mason chuckled and let him down gently and took his seat.

 _ **Malia rushes into the library where Stiles, Derek and Lydia are leaning over Scott who is, as yet, still not healing his eyes. Derek warns if he doesn't heal soon, his eyes will not recover.**_

"Recover" Allison bit her lips in worry, the same thoughts going through everyone's mind.

 _ **Stiles urges him to concentrate. Scott says he's trying, but it's not working. Malia begs him to concentrate. He says he can't focus. Stiles reaches out and takes Lydia's hand. She looks at him and gets an idea. Lydia suggests Malia kiss Scott. After a short pause, the**_ _ **werecoyote**_ _ **kisses her Alpha. As they separate, red lights up the vacant sockets as Scott's eyes grow back.**_

"Kinda creepy how his eyes growing back looks like but nicely done" Stiles laughed. "Thank you" Melissa said to Malia who just nodded gently. Allison gave the girl a grateful look, cuddling into Scott who smiled at her.

 _ **Parrish, Noah and Agent McCall oversee the cleanup of Gerard's armory. At school, it seems everything is back to normal.**_ _ **Coach Finstock**_ _ **is shocked that Nolan and Liam want to be Co-Captains of the lacrosse team. Nolan explains that they've "gotten past their differences." Coach says it doesn't sound very competitive. Liam says they learned it from him because he's a great coach. Coach agrees, he is a great coach.**_

"That he is" al the players laugh in unison.

 _ **In the future, Scott concludes the story he was telling Alec.**_ _ **"They ran that night. Gerard put guns in people's hands, but a lot less than he thought were actually willing to use them. More people know our secret now, but more of them are on our side.**_

"See it was the Anuk-Ite" Scott said firmly to Monroe who stayed quiet.

 _ **They weren't afraid of us anymore. Now, we have allies who used to be enemies. We have protectors. We have friends willing to fight for us.**_

"Aww" Allison teased her blushing father while Melissa just chuckled.

 _ **The rest of us have been looking for others like you."**_ _ **Scott, Alec, and Argent arrive at an inner-city parking lot. Scott clasps hands with Argent and says goodbye. Scott explains to Alec that the people hunting them have a leader named Monroe. She has thousands of followers all over the world. Alec wonders what they're doing in an abandoned parking lot. Scott explains –**_ _ **"We're meeting up with some people who can help us. Some of them are always with us. Others come when we need them, but, tonight, we need everyone we can get."**_

"Thousands huh? Guess you took up Gerard's seat" Allison said tightly making Monroe scowl.

 _ **Stiles and Lydia arrive in his Jeep, Derek in his Camaro. Malia pulls up in her car with Liam. Alec asks if they're all different. Scott says -**_ _ **"Some of them are. Some can do things you'd never believe, and others might only be human, but they make up for it by being really smart or really good in a fight."**_

"Thank you thank you" Stiles stood up and bowed to everyone. Lydia rolled her eyes with a smile and pulled him back down.

 _ **Alec wants to know who they are and Scott says, "**_ _ **My friends. My pack.**_ _ **And you can be with us if you want, but you're going to have to fight." Alec says Monroe promised to find him, hunt him down, and kill him because he is a monster. Scott repeats a line he once said to Liam, "You're not a monster. You're a werewolf like me. Scott's eyes glow red for a moment, he motions Alec to follow him. The pack comes together and walks away under the light of a full moon.**_

"I was expecting like a bang in the background. Like a badass exit" Mason chuckled. "We had enough of explosions" Stiles groaned.


	114. Consummavi

Skylark appeared in a burst of bright light as the screen faded to black. "Are we getting anyone new?" Mason said as everyone stood to stretch their legs. Sky smiled at them, a hint of sadness on his lips. "That was the last one wasn't it?" Claudia asked quietly and Sky nodded. _"I'll give you guys time to say your goodbyes before I take you back"_ Sky said and stood back, leaning against the giant screen. The room had grown quiet before they split into groups.

 **~The Stilinski Family~**

The trio stood facing each other before Claudia pulled them into a tight embrace. "I am so proud of you both" she whispered brokenly feeling them both hug her tightly. "Mom you can't. There has to be some way" Stiles stuttered through tears as he held on to his mother. "I'm sorry my boy" she kissed his cheek and ran her fingers through his hair as he cried into her shoulder. She looked to her husband and smiled sadly, "you did great. You raised our son into the kind of man we knew he would be" she kissed him deeply. "I love you. I love you so much. I love you for everything you have ever done for me and I love you for continuing on after" she said with a shaky smile. "It was never easy" Noah said heavily and hugged her tightly, running his fingers through her hair. The trio broke apart after a while and looked at each other with red puffy eyes. "I will always be watching" Claudia said with a smile. "I am so proud. So so proud of both of you for how far you have come" she says and kissed them both on their cheeks. "Mom" Stiles mumbled and looked at her. Claudia smiled at her son and cupped her cheek, "I will never leave you. I will always be here" she poked his chest and Stiles choked up and hugged her again tightly which Claudia returned fully. Noah smiled sadly and pulled them both into his arms and just held them close.

" **The Hale Family"**

Derek and Peter looked at the two women in front of them, Malia stood away from them, letting them have a bit of privacy. "Derek" Talia started but was silenced by a bone crushing hug from her son. "I know mom. I know" he whispered, his voice cracking slightly. Talia smiled sadly and gently rubbed his back. "You better not do your shit this time uncle" Laura said heatedly. "I'll try not to" Peter rolled his eyes. It was hard for him to be his usual self right now. In front of him were two of his family members that could never come back and one of them was killed by himself. "Stop blaming yourself. You were crazy. Well crazier than usual" Laura grumbled then hugged her uncle close. Peter who had gone stiff at the sudden hug returned it after a while and ruffled her hair. "Look out for him" she whispered and looked at him. "Always" Peter nodded. Laura nodded back and turned to her brother and launched herself at him, giving him a bone crushing hug. "You be careful okay? Don't be a loner. Don't let the Darach get to you again. And don't you dare die before your time, I'll be extra pissed if you do that" she grumbled into his shoulder. Derek blinked away his tears and just held her close and tight. Talia went over to her brother and smiled slightly, "Peter. I'm sorry for keeping your daughter away from you" she said. Peter shook his head, "you did the right thing. I could never be the dad she deserves" he sighed. "I doubt that brother. Just be there for her this time around. Now that you know" she said gently and hugged him tightly which he returned. "I'm so sorry" he mumbled. "Look out for my son and make sure he doesn't die before his time" Talia said gently and hugged him tighter. She broke off from the hug and walked over to Malia. "You are a Hale through and through don't forget. You are family and Derek and your father will do everything to keep you safe and will always be there for you" she said with a smile and hugged the shocked werecoyote. Malia blinked furiously to get over her shock before she gingerly hugged back. Laura grinned at her, "Don't worry cousin. You'll be okay" she said gently.

Scott had approached Monroe while the rest talked with each other. "You see" he said to her, "we aren't your enemies. We both have a common goal, we both want to protect those who can't protect themselves" he said simply. Monroe looked at the Alpha, "we might have the same goal, but we are not the same. I might not outright hunt your kind down, but one toe out of line and I will kill every last one of you' she said and walked away. "Guess that's the best I can get" Scott sighed.

After a moment, everyone stood in front of Sky who was watching them all. _"Ready?"_ he asked and they all nodded, Noah and Stiles holding Claudia's hand with Lydia holding Stile's other free hand, Derek's one hand on Laura's shoulder and the other on his mother's shoulder with Peter standing with Malia beside Talia, Allison and Scott standing hand in hand, Rafael and Melissa standing on the other side of Scott while Chris stood on the other side of Allison, Hayden and Liam stood hand in hand while Corey and Mason were hand in hand and Parrish, Theo and Monroe standing beside one another, keeping their distance. Sky stood straight and snapped his fingers as they all vanished in a burst of white light. _"I'm gonna miss this room"_ he sighed as everything in the room slowly disappeared. _"I wonder how they'll change things"_ he mused and turned towards the lookers. _"Would you like to watch with me?"_ he asked as the room went dark, with only his glowing red eyes visible in the dark.


	115. Author's Note 7

So this one ended am I'm very emotional rn T_T

But there are two things I wanted to ask. Do you guys want me to write about how they change everything? Another one is I wanted to write a watching the future for Agents of Shield x Avengers, a cross over for those two but not sure how I could accomplish that so any ideas?


End file.
